New Delhi [India], December 12 (ANI): Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday flagged the air pollution crisis in northern India and other parts of the country, demanding a parliamentary discussion to develop a systematic plan to address it. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju assured the LoP that the government is open to discussion.
The Congress MP asserted that the millions of children’s futures are being destroyed due to lung diseases amid rising air pollution.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, “Most of our major cities are living under a blanket of poisonous air. Millions of children are getting lung diseases. Their future is being destroyed. People are getting cancer. Older people are struggling to breathe. This is an interesting issue because I’m certain that there will be full agreement between the government and us on this issue. This is not an ideological issue. Everybody in this house would agree that air pollution, the damage it is doing to our people, is something that we would like to cooperate on.”
Emphasising the need for collaborative action, Gandhi proposed a detailed discussion, after which the Prime Minister put in place a plan for each city.
“It’s important that the government develops a plan for how to get rid of air pollution in our cities. We are more than happy to cooperate with the government to develop such a plan. There are not many issues these days that the government and the entire opposition can agree on. I think the government should discuss in parliament. We should try not to make it a discussion where we are abusing you, and you are abusing us,” Gandhi added.
“I think we should make it a discussion where we are participating, we are showing the country that on this fundamental issue, there is agreement, and the best minds are going to be put into place to solve this issue. I think it would be good if we have a detailed discussion and then the Prime Minister puts in place a plan for each city, a methodical systematic plan on how, within the next five or ten years, maybe we cannot resolve the problem, but how we are going to address the problem and make life for our people easier,” Gandhi said further.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi stressed that pollution is an issue on which all parties can agree.
“I talked about pollution in Delhi and major cities. This is an issue in which all parties can agree. The health of our future generations is at risk. I suggested we discuss this, but instead of a blame game, we need to find a solution. We should take input from experts as well. We want to show the country that we can work together to curb pollution,” he said.
In response to Gandhi’s concerns, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju assured him that a discussion would be held to find a solution and invited suggestions from MPs across party lines.
“The government, from day one, had made our position very clear that on all important matters, the government is ready to discuss and also to find a solution, taking along the suggestions from all the members, including the principal opposition party led by Rahul Gandhi ji. Under the various laws and rules, we will see how we will take up this discussion,” Rijiju said in the House.
The call for discussion comes amid growing public concern about deteriorating air quality across multiple cities, particularly in Delhi-NCR, as the Air Quality Index (AQI) level in the national capital was at 349 at 4 pm today, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category.
Congress MPs also backed Rahul Gandhi’s call for a parliamentary discussion. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asserted that the issue is urgent and the “government should make a good action plan” for it.
Speaking to reporters, Priyanka Gandhi said that air pollution has been escalating every year and requires a coordinated national response.
“I completely agree, and I think everyone agrees. The government also said we should all discuss it and develop an action plan. It is increasing every year. We discuss all other topics, so this should also be discussed, and something concrete should come out of it. If the government makes a good action plan and takes it forward, it will be great,” she said.
Congress MP Deepender Hooda said that the Centre has not allocated sufficient funds to deal with the problem of air pollution, adding that Parliament must hold a debate over this matter next week.
Speaking to reporters, Hooda said, “An inadequate budget has been allocated by the government, and even this budget has not been spent by the government. Only 1% of the budget has been spent on industrial pollution. In such a situation, we repeatedly raised this issue. On behalf of Haryana, I thank Rahul Gandhi for raising this matter vociferously. We hope that the government will hold a discussion on this next week.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also welcomed Lok Sabha LoP’s demand for a discussion on air pollution and asserted that instead of “doing politics on the issue”, we need to find a solution, as both the ruling side and the opposition are suffering from this.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) MP stressed that Delhi residents “feel as if they are breathing poisonous air every day” and criticised the lack of debate on the issue despite the BJP being in power, noting that it was once a key point of attack against the Aam Aadmi Party.
Speaking to ANI, Chaturvedi said, “I welcome this. It feels like we are breathing poisonous air every day. This used to be a topic of discussion for the BJP when the Aam Aadmi Party was in power, but even after forming the government, there is no discussion on this. There should be a comprehensive discussion on this. Both the ruling side and the opposition are suffering from this. Instead of doing politics on this, we need to find a solution.”
Meanwhile, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and adjoining areas has constituted an Expert Committee in the Chairmanship of IIT Madras Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala to tackle the air pollution caused by vehicular emissions.
In the Parliament session today, Lok Sabha also witnessed a discussion on supplementary demands for grants, where Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda questioned the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the IMF’s annual review of India’s national accounts statistics, giving the data a Grade ‘C’.
Alongside GDP growth and unemployment, Hooda also highlighted that the Centre has allocated the lowest sports budget to Haryana.
Replying to Hooda, Jagdambika Pal stated the IMF gave the ‘C’ grade as data is based on an outdated base year, 2011-12.
“Hooda spoke less on the Supplementary grants and more on the Budget. The matter he raised should be factual and correct. The thing you are saying about the IMF’s grade ‘C’ is actually regarding the base year of 2011-12. The IMF has stated that India has received a ‘B’ grade in inflation, government finance and external sector equal to China and Brazil,” Pal told the House.
Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also gave a clarification on the IMF’s grade ‘C’ and said that the new base year will be 2022-23 from next year. (ANI)
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