Wheat, rice supply for drought hit A.P. also

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 5. The Vajpayee Government today formally decided to extend Central assistance, in the form of wheat and rice for drought-affected areas, to Andhra Pradesh. At present it was applicable only to the drought-hit districts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Announcing this, the Union Minister and spokesperson of the Cabinet, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, clarified that the assistance was in addition to the normal allocation and the extra 20 kg foodgrain, being made available to the families in the drought- hit areas, would be at the below the poverty line (BPL) rate, irrespective of whether the recipients were above or below the poverty line.

Consequently, the BPL families would be entitled to 40 kg of foodgrain at BPL rates, and the APL families 10 kg at APL rates and 20 kg at BPL rates.

The Cabinet, which met here this evening, also decided to amend the Passport Act of 1920, with a view to increase the punishment for illegal entry into the country to a maximum of five years' imprisonment or a fine of Rs. 50,000 or both.

It also decided to withdraw the Pondicherry (Administration) Amendment Bill, which had sought to clarify that the Madras High Court was vested with power to exercise administrative control over subordinate judiciary in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. The Bill, pending in the Rajya Sabha from 1995, is being withdrawn as the Law Ministry, after a detailed review, concluded that by virtue of interpretation by the Madras High Court, the original legislation - Pondicherry (Administration) Act - already provided for the vestment of such power to it.

The Cabinet also approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with France for cooperation in the field of highway transportation. The MoU is expected to help in the ambitious project of the Government to upgrade the national highway network in the country, with private sector participation.

It was decided to import 50,000 tonnes of rice by the State Trading Corporation from Myanmar for distribution in the northeast. The proposal was designed to further cement relations between India and Myanmar, without imposing any extra burden on the exchequer as the landed price of food grain would be the same as the domestic price.

Besides, the Cabinet approved a proposal to amend the Protection of Human Rights Act to ensure that employees of the National Human Rights Commission got the benefits of the fifth Pay Commission with retrospective effect and to provide 9.2 acres of Defence land in Secunderabad to the Army Welfare Education Society for establishing a dental college.

The Cabinet also decided to take on lease three additional transponders from Messrs. Shim of Thailand at a cost of Rs. 40 crores and reintroduce in Parliament the Semiconductor Design and Layout Bill, after incorporating the amendments as suggested by a Parliamentary Committee.

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