The Hindu : SP MLAs disrupt Governor's address

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 16, 2002

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SP MLAs disrupt Governor's address

By Our Special Correspondent

Opposition members stalling the proceedings of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly during the address of the Governor, Vishnu Kant Sastri, in Lucknow on Wednesday. - Photo: Subir Roy.

LUCKNOW MAY 15. The Uttar Pradesh Governor, Vishnu Kant Shastri's address to the joint session of the State Assembly here today was marred by slogan-shouting, waving of posters and placards and throwing of paper balls towards his podium from the Opposition benches.

Samajwadi Party members, who were in the vanguard of the protests, were on their feet immediately after Mr. Shastri entered the Assembly. Several SP MLAs had come prepared with posters, which declared the Governor to be the "murderer of democracy".

Some of them also tried to advance towards the Governor's podium raising slogans such as "Loktantra ke hatyare Rajyapal wapas jao" as Mr. Shastri read his speech.

The protests, however, ended soon with Mr. Shastri leaving the House in a huff after reading a few lines from the beginning and end of his speech.

In his address, Mr. Shastri expressed the Government's commitment to strive for an egalitarian society based on the values of social and communal harmony.

It would endeavour to create an atmosphere which would encourage the people of the State to rise above parochial considerations of religion, caste and community and foster an atmosphere of brotherhood so that the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the high and the low was reduced and everyone got an opportunity to participate in the development process.

The welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, the backward classes, the minorities and the handicapped was especially important for his Government. All students up to Class X belonging to the SCs and the STs would be covered under the scholarship scheme and hostel facilities provided to them at the sub-divisional level. Plans were afoot to run ashram-type schools up to Class XII for students belonging to the families of `safai' workers.

The Government would allocate funds for the development of the SCs and the STs in proportion to their population in both the annual plan for the current year as well as in the Tenth Plan.

The Government's first priority would be to improve the State's finances. The economy, he said, was in ruins. The imbalance between income and expenditure had become so precarious that it was severely hampering development.

Unproductive Government expenditure had increased and unless this imbalance was corrected, progress would be affected.

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