LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) _____ Monday, November 26, 2007 / Agrahayana 5, 1929 (Saka) ______ REFERENCE BY THE SPEAKER Re: Loss of lives and injuries to many in the serial bomb blasts took place at Faizabad, Varanasi and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on 23 November, 2007 and Assam. MR. SPEAKER: Hon. Members, as you are aware, on 23rd November, 2007, serial bomb blasts rocked the court premises in the cities of Faizabad, Lucknow and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in which about 14 innocent people have lost their lives, and 59 were injured. Further, two people have also lost their lives and 18 have been injured in blasts in Assam that took place. The House strongly condemns these cowardly acts of terrorism and expresses its condolences to the bereaved families. The Members then stood in silence for a short while. FELICITATION BY THE SPEAKER MR. SPEAKER: It is a matter of great pride and joy that one of our women archers Ms. Dola Banerjee has won the Archery World Championship in Dubai on 24 November 2007. Her victory has brought laurels to the country. Hon. Members, the Indian Cricket Team has won the first cricket match in the ongoing test series with Pakistan in Delhi on 26 November, 2007. I am sure the House would join me in congratulating Ms. Dola Banerjee and Shri Anil Kumble and his teammates on their accomplishments. I also congratulate Shri Mohan Rawale, M.P. and caption of Parliamentary Eleven Team on their win against the team of Haryana Chief Minister’s Eleven in the One day Cricket Match held on Saturday, the 24th November, 2007. STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS (i) Re: National Policy For Farmers, 2007 THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI SHARAD PAWAR): I am glad to inform the House that the Government has approved the National Policy for Farmers, 2007. The Policy is primarily based on the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers chaired by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan. The Terms of Reference of the Commission, inter alia, included methods of enhancing productivity, profitability and sustainability of the major farming systems in different agro-climatic regions of the country and suggesting measures to attract and retain educated youth in farming and working out a comprehensive medium term strategy for food and nutrition security. Based on the draft policy suggested by the Commission and the comments and suggestions received from various Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments, the National Policy for Farmers, 2007 has been formulated and approved by the Government of India. The policy, inter alia, aims to improve the economic viability of farming by substantially improving the net income of farmers in addition to improving productivity, profitability, land, water and support services and provide appropriate price policy, risk management measures, etc. In order to operationalise the Policy, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation will constitute an Inter-Ministerial Committee for preparing a suitable plan of action for the purpose. I hereby lay the National Policy for Farmers, 2007 on the Table of the House and hope that the new Policy would help in rejuvenating our farm sector and bringing lasting improvement in the economic condition of the farmers. (ii) Re: Bomb Blasts at Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI SHIVRAJ V. PATIL): I rise, with a deep sense of anguish, to inform this august House of the tragic incidents of terrorist violence that occurred in the court premises in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow on 23.11.2007. As per the latest information, five bomb blasts took place in these three cities within a span of about 20 minutes. There were not six blasts; there were five blasts. There were two blasts in the Varanasi court premises in which nine persons including three lawyers and one twelve year old boy have been killed and 56 others are injured. Out of the injured, two persons are reported to be critical. My colleague, Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home, along with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs visited the blast sites in the Varanasi Court premises and the injured admitted in Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Singh Nursing Home and BHU Hospital. In the Court premises in Faizabad, there were two blasts in which four persons have lost their lives including one advocate and 24 persons have been injured. In Lucknow, there was one bomb blast but it did not cause any loss of life or injury. The modus operandi adopted in these blasts was that the explosives with a battery operated timer device were contained in a bag and kept on the bicycles parked close to the area where lawyers/litigants sat. The teams of NSG personnel have visited the blast sites for post-blast investigations. The investigations into these blasts have been given to the Special Task Force (STF) by the State Government. The Central agencies are also helping the State Police in this regard. The State Government, as per the latest report, has announced compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the next of kin of those deceased and Rs. 1 lakh for those seriously injured. The Uttar Pradesh Government has also given directions to enhance and strengthen the security of all district courts and especially of the Allahabad High Court and the Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow. The State Government has also increased vigil at sensitive and crowded places, educational institutions, etc. The Government strongly condemns these incidents of mindless terrorist violence, and reiterates its firm resolve to combat terrorism. The security and intelligence agencies continue to make sustained efforts to neutralize such extremist and terrorist elements through preventive measures. The fight against terrorism has to be fought at different levels. Besides the Government, political parties, civil society, media and the public at large, all have to play an important role in countering such forces. We will not allow these anti-national forces to disturb peace and communal harmony in the country. We mourn the loss of invaluable lives of innocent citizens and convey our heart-felt condolences to the affected families. Responding to the points raised by several hon. Members, the Minister further stated: A number of good suggestions have come from the hon. Members and both the Governments have to work in tandem in view of those suggestions. This is the time when we have to fight it out unitedly and not to brow beat each other. I would briefly explain as to what steps are necessary to take. First and foremost we have to enhance the budget meant for police activities. This has to be done by both Central and State Governments. Secondly, we have to strengthen our special branches. It was pointed out during the discussion as to whether intelligence agencies had provided any prior information in this regard or not. I would like to apprise the august House with all humility at my command that it is quite difficult for our Defence Intelligence or for that matter RAW or IB to take stock of the situation prevailing in every nook and corner of our country. These agencies provide inputs as to what is going to happen in the country. Sometimes they fail to assess the situation. I don’t want to go into the details of their information as this is not the time that we should point out fingers to others. This is the time to work in tandem. In view of that we have to strengthen our special branch of the State and accordingly we have taken number of steps like providing electronic gadgets to IB to modernise it. We are increasing their strength as well. However, we cannot solely depend on IB. Therefore, every State has to strengthen its Special Branche. We have a long-term plan in this regard. Thirdly, we have to increase the strength of our police force as well. I will provide the entire detail when it comes for detailed discussion in the House by giving figures as to what is the police population ratio in our country in comparison to other countries. There are 6 lakh cities, towns and villages in our country whereas there are only 14000 police stations. Therefore, it is necessary to augment our police forces accordingly. Similarly, we have to modernise our communication system in the police stations. In spite of all that we cannot solely depend on Police and we have to be vigilant. Since this is a federal issue we have to work unitedly. Therefore, blaming each other will not do any good to our country. We have to devise a way to overcome this problem. Not once but so many times the Chief Ministers meetings had been summoned. Another meeting is likely to be held very soon. We are going to summon them within the next 15-20 days as requested by hon. Members. Not only that the Commissions constituted to strengthen the administrative machinery have also stated that the Government have to delve deep so far as the federal crime and federal investigation system are concerned. But this is not acceptable to the states. They say that such type of system is always subjected to misuse. But it is also true that the Centre by itself cannot do anything unless and until it is done. So, we have to find a way out. I have said earlier as well and I will say again that unless and until we have a united view on this issue we cannot do anything on our own as we have a federal structure.