Issues ranging from donations for admission to medical colleges and lynching of a youth in Nagaland to sexual assaults against women and preservation of the Himalayan ecology were raised in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour today.
Hukumdev Narayan Yadav (BJP) sought stringent rules to curb medical colleges from taking "huge" donations for admissions and demanded that people taking money should be put behind the bars.
Donations ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore is demanded from students for medical college admissions, said, demanding CBI probe into these cases and putting the culprits behind bars. He also wanted amending the Medical Council Act to check such practices.
Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF) demanded a CBI enquiry into the lynching of a youth in Nagaland for an alleged rape to bring out the facts. Alleging that the Nagaland government was under the "pressure of militants", he claimed those detained with regard to the lynching incident would be released.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Cong) wanted the government to "consider having multiple time zones" in the country, saying many others like the US and Russia had such a system.
Observing that different time zones would help in saving on energy consumption as daylight is wasted now, he said the sun rises in Mumbai two hours after that in Kohima. In 1884, India had two time zones, Chowdhury contended.
Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJD) emphasised the need for securing the "porous" India-Bangladesh border which was leading to illegal immigration and trading of illicit weapons. The government should provide the factual situation about this border and also ensure fencing of it.
Raising the issue of rapes and sexual assaults against women, P K Sreemathi Teacher (CPI-M) said the "government is not at all serious" in making efforts to prevent such incidents or extending help to the victims.
The government should look at setting up one-stop help centres for victims of sexual assaults in every district besides having fast-track courts in all states to hear the cases, she noted.
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (BJP) said the government should take steps to preserve the Himalayan range and its eco-system, saying the region was facing many calamities arising out of climate change issues.
He demanded strengthening of disaster management activities, including installation of sensometers and doppler radars in the Himalayan region.
