By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 29 Nov: Congress leaders in the House today raised the issue of ‘poor law and order’ in Uttarakhand. The notice to discuss the issue was served under Rule 310 but the Speaker accepted it under Rule 58.
Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition Yashpal Arya claimed that recent incidents indicated that the government has failed to manage law and order in the state. Serious crime incidents are happening on a regular basis but the Police is unable to catch the culprits. Rapes, murders and dacoity have become the order of the day in a state earlier known as a peaceful haven.
He also wondered why, in certain cases, the Police seemed reluctant to catch the culprits till mass protests forced the government to initiate some action against some of the accused. Arya mentioned several incidents in order to emphasise his claim that the law and order situation had worsened because of the inaction of the law and order machinery to take action against culprits.
Congress MLA Pritam Singh also said that the state was earlier famous as a crime free state but the current scenario is indicative of the fact that the government is failing to maintain law and order. He further claimed that it appeared the mafia and criminals from across the country have settled in Uttarakhand as it is proving to be a safe haven for them. Congress leaders also raised the issue of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered some months ago.
Congress MLA Pritam Singh also raised the issue of breach of privilege. He said the government is not serious about the violation of privileges of the MLAs despite the fact that the Chair (the Speaker) had from time to time instructed the government to ensure the dignity of all the members and that their privileges are not breached by anyone. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Premchand, in response, said that the government took the directions of the Chair very seriously and sincerely and took action on every such complaint.
Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan also expressed concern at such complaints of breach of privileges and said that she would like the government to ensure that dignity of each and every member is maintained.
