Sir, we live in India in a strange
and abnormal atmosphere in the aftermath of the occurrences in Punjab
and elsewhere. There are vast masses of refugees full of bitterness. Any
relaxation of vigilance may lead to disastrous consequences. Nevertheless,
the fact remains that once large powers are given to executive and police
officers, they are likely to be misused. I am sorry to say that
all the reputation that we acquired in the past as defenders of civil liberty
and freedom is fading away. Our stock in the world had been high. It is not so
high now, and deputations and complaints have gone to our Ambassadors about
various happenings in India. The Government of India suggested to State Governments
some time back that individuals suspected of dangerous activities leading to sabotage
might be arrested and detained. The situation140
was a difficult one and there was a possibility of large-scale trouble.
In making these arrests, State Governments adopted160 varying procedures. Some arrested a few
persons whom they specially suspected, others made large-scale arrests which
could hardly be justified on individual grounds. I am rather worried about this
tendency all over India to use special measures against people we may
not like. Even when temporarily justified, this creates the wrong kind of
background, and more and more we depend upon these special measures
and the police. In the long run, and even in the short run, this is bad for
the country, for the people, and for our party, which is held responsible.
I would, therefore, beg of you to examine this matter carefully.
I continue to
receive from foreign countries, especially trade unions and labour
organisations, letters of280
protest and surprise at the internments that have taken place, specially
of trade union and labour leaders. I know that some of the activities of
these labour leaders have been very injurious and have had little to do with
labour. 320 The matter is for
each State Government to consider. I do not want India to get the
reputation of a country which does not permit the fullest liberty in regard to
labour work or other work. On one hand, we can take no risks when the
very basis of freedom and security is involved; on the other hand, a
tendency to suppress the individual without adequate cause is bad. Some
High Courts have criticized governmental action in regard to detention
and many people have been freed under the writ of habeas corpus. I have written
to you often enough420 on
the subject of detenus or people kept in prison or detention without
trial. Circumstances may compel us to do this, and circumstances in India today
are bad, and we will not take a risk which may lead to violent repercussions.
Subject to this, I would again ask you to consider how far it is desirable
to keep people for480 long in
detention without trial. This has a bad effect on our reputation and I continue
to receive large number of protests from every part of the world. I only
wish to point out to you the dangers of continuing a policy which ultimately
probably depends on the judgement of police officers or the like, and
which tends to become stabilized as a method of Government. It must always
be remembered that this is not a normal or proper method560 of Government or administration and that
it can only be indulged in cases of grave emergency.
The hon. Members are agitated on
several issues on this subject. I share the hon. Members’ concern
about the health of the Air India today. As far as Air India is
concerned, when it was two organizations, that is the Air India and the Indian
Airlines, there were fleets which were operating. They became old and they
could not sustain more hours of flying. There were640 demands from various quarters, including
the public and the hon. Members of Parliament, for the acquisition of
aircraft, for which steps had been taken. As far as the policy is
concerned, a decision was taken to adopt the Open Sky Policy. It was decided that
foreign airlines will be allowed to operate in India and Indian operators will
be allowed700 to operate in
other countries. For that, we needed more aircraft for the purpose of
meeting the competition in this field. A committee was appointed for giving
suggestions to the Government for the purposes of effective functioning and
also for improving the condition of the Air India and the Indian Airlines at
that time. Most of the recommendations have been implemented. An allegation
was raised about the purchase of aircraft. As far as the purchase of aircraft
was concerned, a committee was constituted under the chairmanship of a former Chief
Vigilance Commissioner. He went into the whole issue of negotiations.800 Thereafter, the Group of Ministers was
constituted by the Government. Unless and until we changed our old fleet
into new ones, we could not compete with other airlines because of the
Open Sky Policy which was introduced by the previous Government. 840 We had to continue with that. There
is also a policy adopted by the Government. There is the
regulation for the purpose of allotting routes to various companies and
organisations at the national and international level. As per the
agreement, the routes were allotted to private airlines and Air India. The
point which the hon. Member raised was that the route allocation has been made
in a manner which is not conducive to us. It is not
correct. As far as we are concerned, we have to go by the agreement that has
been entered into by the Civil Aviation Ministry with various
international organisations for the purpose of having the regulations
for routes. The policy of our960 Government
is to strengthen Air India which is the public sector undertaking.
It is not like that we are going for privatization980 which the earlier Government did.
The Government proposes measures like rationalization of routes and cutting
losses on traditionally loss-making routes. We are going to do that.
Then, we propose re-scheduling of aircraft operation and return of the
leased capacity aircraft. We are not going to further continue with
them. Then, we propose complete rationalization of manpower by taking the
employees into confidence and negotiating with them. Then, we propose reduction
in contractual employment. We also propose to have a review of all agreements
on technical and operational matters. The union will also be involved in
that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a
very shocking news item has appeared in an English daily yesterday claiming
that many young Punjabis have been duped by travel agents, who call themselves
as placement consultants. As a result, these innocent youth have been
suffering. They have been taken1120
to Iraq. The report claims that travel agents induced the youth with assurances
of providing them jobs in the American Army Camps located in Baghdad and had
promised them that they would be paid 800 dollars per month. Once they
landed in Iraq, they have been sent to various construction sites. Most
of these boys are being paid just 300 dollars or less per month. I wonder what
the officials of the Ministry are doing. Why are they so lethargic and
indifferent when such unscrupulous agents, in the guise of placement
consultants, are duping a large number of our youth? There are more than
15,000 Punjabi youth in various jails throughout the world today. We all
know the fate of these poor Indians in the Gulf countries where they are forced
to work in inhuman conditions. I have no hesitation1260
in saying that the number of such cases are increasing every single day.
After taking cognizance of this highly deplorable1280 incident, what has the Ministry
done to immediately protect these Punjabi youth in Iraq? I request the hon.
Minister of External Affairs as well as the hon. Minister of Overseas
Indian Affairs to pay personal attention toward this highly
sensitive issue, and they should go the whole hog in order to protect the
Indian youth over there. As the matter is very serious and sensitive, I would
request the hon. Minister of External Affairs to make a statement, at the
earliest, on the floor of the House.
Respected Deputy Speaker Sir, I
rise to support this Bill because of certain reasons. The first
reason is that people want to live and this Bill may allow them to
live longer. There has1400
been a detailed discussion on this subject in the Standing Committee
and the recommendations of the Committee have been incorporated in the Bill.
Yesterday the discussion was held in this august House very meaningfully
and in a cordial atmosphere. 1400
Many hon. Members raised valid points and touched upon the salient
features. I am a first-timer in the House and have never come
across such an enlightening discussion. I congratulate all the hon. Members and
also appreciate the provisions of the Bill. However, I am compelled to mention that
there is a threatening illegal trade of kidneys going on in many parts of
the country. The main reason behind this is that in almost all the big
cities, towns and districts, private hospitals and nursing homes
have cropped up, which are involved in illegal organ trade, especially kidney transplantation.
In India the availability of medical transplants is lower than the requirement.
We need about 2 lakh kidneys whereas only five or ten thousand kidneys are
available to the ailing patients. Therefore, the illegal trade flourishes and
there is an unholy nexus among the administration, police, private nursing home
owners and a section of doctors. 1596
