Bad outweighs good

As the Lok Sabha debated amendments to the Public Premises Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants Act on Monday, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told the members why it was essential to pass the law. Naidu said no municipal chairman or mayor ever wants to evict people found unauthorisedly occupying public land because nobody wants to be unpopular. Naidu said the "people forget the good work done" by a public representative but the "memory of affected people", that is, those evicted from public land, "is long". The minister said it was, therefore, necessary to give the law enforcement agencies more teeth by passing the proposed amendments, even as some members expressed fears that making the legislation more stringent could lead to its misuse.