Wrong to classify coconut as palm: Par Panel

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Science today termed as "wrong" the Goa government's decision to classify coconut as 'palm' instead of 'tree' and sought Centre's intervention in the matter.
"The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Ashwani Kumar, took stock of the situation vis-a-vis the recent decision by the state government to classify Coconut as a 'palm' and not a 'tree'," a committee member told PTI.
"It was noted that classifying Coconut as a 'palm' is a wrong decision, which is not in favour of protection of the fruit. Coconut has given so much to Goa, and one cannot play with its preservation.

"The committee expects the central government to intervene so that the amendment is withdrawn," the official said.
The state government, in the recent amendment to the Goa, Daman and Diu Preservation of Trees Act, classified coconut as a 'palm', triggering controversy.
The committee, in the meeting held in South Goa, raised concerns about the Goa Investment Promotion Board (IPB), a statutory body set up for speedy disposal of investment proposals.

"The committee felt that Goa IPB is illegal and sought details of all the proposals cleared by the committee," the official said.
The committee members said the way investment proposals are cleared by the IPB, it would create hundreds of smaller special economic zones (SEZs) in the state.

The bill also seeks to punish both bribe giver and taker.
At present, there is no law in the country to punish bribe givers.
It provides for issue of guidelines for commercial organisations to prevent persons associated with them from bribing a public servant. In this regard, it is pertinent to mention that the Central Vigilance Commission is probing a case involving US retail giant Wal-Mart and confectionery major Mondelez India Ltd against certain government employees for alleged corruption.
The bill also has provisions for the attachment and forfeiture of property of public servants accused of corruption. The PC (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 19, 2013 during the UPA rule. However, it was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which submitted its report to the Upper House on February 6 2014 but the Bill could not be passed.

On April 29 last year, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend the PC Act by pursuing the amendment bill after moving official amendments.
It was on December 7 last year sent to the Select Committee for examination and report.