NEW DELHI: Urging the Centre to withdraw the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said that it would bring greater centralisation of power in the hands of Centre.
The bill was moved by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.
Initiating the debate on the bill, Tharoor said that Centre rejected Kerala government’s demand for declaring the rains, floods and landslides in Wayanad, that took place in July, as a national disaster.
He claimed that the legislation is constitutionally untenable as it lacks on various fronts, is “ill thought out”, and will lead to “overlapping”. It seeks to weaken the national executive committee and state executive committees related to disaster management, he said.
Seeking its withdrawal, the Congress MP said that the MPs will have no voice in disaster management once the legislation is passed.
While moving the Bill, Rai said the government is working on the policy of “zero casualties” during disasters in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge of making India a developed country by 2047.
The minister said that since the Modi government has come to power, losses have come down due to able disaster management techniques, but asserted that the legislation was framed to address the difficulties flagged by the states.
“India faces a variety of disasters across seasons. The government is working on the policy of ‘zero casualties’ in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pledge of making India a developed country by 2047,” Rai said.
Participating in the debate, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee said the bill seeks to make several positive changes in disaster management but there were many negative clauses too.
He claimed that the bill would ensure further centralisation power in the hands of the Centre. When the TMC member alleged non-cooperation by the central government during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rai countered it, saying it was PM Modi who handled the crisis successfully by taking everyone along.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia stood up and supported Rai, saying that India had emerged as a “Vishwa Bandhu” during the pandemic and helped all the needy countries across the world.
Following this, Banerjee attacked Scindia and made certain remarks against the minister which were expunged by Speaker Om Birla.