AP House pays tributes to Gujral; discusses SC/ST legislation

Speaker Nadendla Manohar moved the condolence motion immediately after the House sat for the day's proceedings this morning.

Manohar recalled Gujral's services to the nation in a long political career.

"He was a freedom fighter who took active part in the Quit India Movement. He was an able leader who served the country as Union Minister first and Prime Minister next.

Gujral was a great poet in Urdu," the Speaker said in the condolence motion.

Later, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen floor leader Akbaruddin asked the government to table the report of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on SC and ST sub-plans in the House.

Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who headed the sub-committee, said the report was prepared after elaborate deliberations with stakeholders across the state.

"There was no secrecy in preparing the report. Everything was done transparently. People from the SC and the ST communities poured out their woes at the workshops we conducted in different parts of the state. A legal framework is needed for judicious utilisation of funds earmarked for the SCs and the STs under the sub-plans. Only then will justice be done to these sections of the society," the Deputy Chief Minister noted.

The House then took up discussion on the proposed legislation. Telugu Desam Legislature Party deputy leader Motkupalli Narasimhulu said funds to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore earmarked for SC and ST sub-plans were diverted for other purposes in the last eight years of the Congress rule.

The proposed legislation would not benefit anyone as it had many flaws in it. (MORE)