LS passes vote-on-account

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20. Amid slogan shouting and general commotion, the Lok Sabha today passed the vote-on-account through voice vote enabling the Government draw from the Consolidated Fund of India for the next two months. The House also approved the proposal of the Railway Ministry to draw money for expenses, pending the approval of the Railway Budget by Parliament.

The motion for the vote-on-account was moved in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, for permission to draw up to Rs. 1,19,411 crores for meeting essential Government expenditure beyond March 31, and till the demands for grants of the various Ministries were approved by Parliament. The motion for railway expenditure to the tune of Rs. 11,802.72 crores was moved by the Minister of State for Railways, Mr. Digvijay Singh.

The two motions have been sent to the Rajya Sabha, which is scheduled to take up the matter tomorrow. Technically, the Upper House has no jurisdiction to turn down a money Bill and the motion is expected to be considered and returned to the Lok Sabha.

Prior to the passage of the vote-on-account in the Lok Sabha, the Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi, contacted leaders of Opposition parties, including Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Somnath Chatterjee and Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav. The leaders concurred with the Speaker that the vote on account was a Constitutional necessity and agreed not to disrupt the proceedings of the House during the passage of the motion.

In the normal course, the vote-on-account is an annual feature since the demands for grants for various Ministries are normally approved by Parliament after the mid-session recess. Hence, the Government routinely seeks the approval of Parliament to carry out expenditure beyond the end of the financial year, March 31.

However, the vote-on-account is normally preceded by a general debate on the Union budget when members seek clarification and make suggestions to the Finance Minister. It is also the normal practice for the Minister to announce some changes in the budget in the light of representations made by trade and industry and other organisations. But the disruption of parliamentary proceedings in the wake of the Tehelka expose has been at the cost of a general debate on the budget and sectional interests which have been representing the Finance Minister for changes in excise and other levies would have to wait for Parliament to resume after the recess.

RS adjourned

PTI reports:

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha had to be adjourned without transacting any legislative business following acrimonious scenes over the Tehelka tapes expose.

The House, adjourned for five hours when it assembled for question hour, hardly lasted for ten minutes after it reassembled at 4 p.m., as determined Opposition members disrupted the proceedings.

The only time the Opposition members were silent was when the Deputy Chairperson, Ms. Najma Heptulla, read out a message from the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, thanking the House for adopting the motion of thanks on his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

Outside Parliament House, the battle of lung power between ruling party members and the Opposition touched new heights.

Sporting jackets with slogans against the Congress and its president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the BJP's shouting brigade led by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president, Mr. Shivraj Singh Chauhan, was countered by the Opposition members led by the RJD's Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and the CPI(M)'s Mr. Suresh Kurup and Mr. Subodh Rai.

Fernandes meets President

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20. The former Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, met the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this morning. According to a Samata Party spokesman, it was a ``courtesy call''.

Mr. Fernandes, however, is believed to have explained to the President the circumstances under which he had to resign in the wake of the Tehelka tape revelations. The meeting assumes significance only because a section of the media had reported that it was at the behest of the President that the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, asked for Mr. Fernandes' resignation.

Though no official word was available either from the President's side or Mr. Fernades about what transpired between them, it is understood that Mr. Fernandes learnt for himself that the President had no role in the change of guard at the Defence Ministry.

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