Paswan's party to contest MCD poll

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JUNE 18.

The Lok Janshakti Party president and Union Communication Minister, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, announced today that his party would contest the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls, scheduled to be held early next year. At the same time, he said the door for alliance was open with like-minded parties.

Mr. Paswan said this while addressing a public meeting at Ambedkar Nagar, Tigri, in South Delhi as part of the ``Parivartan Rath Yatra'' launched by the Delhi unit of the party against the ``corrupt'' and ``inefficient'' Sheila Dikshit Government. The Rath Yatra, which entered the seventh day today, will go round the city for a month.

The Lok Janshakti Party president said his party favoured splitting of the MCD into five smaller bodies. Stating that the people of Delhi by and large wanted the MCD's breaking up, Mr. Paswan said his party favoured the Mayor-in-Council system for the civic bodies that will come into existence after the split. It should be ensured that under the Mayor-in-Council system the elected representatives have the power to take major policy decisions and the new body should have full powers for the executive instead of the bureaucracy. He called upon the party workers to get down to the job of preparing themselves for the MCD polls as the people of all sections had great hopes from the party.

At the same time, Mr. Paswan lashed out at the Delhi Government for its failure to identify people below the poverty line and provide them the Red Cards for issuing of rations at 50 per cent subsidised rates. He said the government must act on this issue urgently as it affected lakhs of people. His party would pressurise the Sheila Dikshit Government to act in this matter.

Stating that his party was for the welfare of all sections, Mr. Paswan said the party favoured free education for children up to 14 years. At the same time, efforts were being made to ensure medical facilities at the block and district levels where the real India resided. His party, he said, favoured giving major impetus to development of the rural areas.

Mr. Paswan took the Delhi Government to task for the deteriorating power and water situation and said the Delhi Government had failed to provide even the basic civic amenities to the people. The citizens are reeling under constant shortages. He said the compensation rates for acquisition of land of farmers should be increased to Rs. 50 lakhs per acre and should be made effective from December 1998 when the Congress(I) Government came to power. At the same time, he said jobs should be given to at least one member of the family of the farmers, and landless agricultural labour with immediate effect.

Mr. Paswan demanded that the consolidation work of Lal Dora rural villages must be undertaken immediately and extended Abadi of village should be provided all civic amenities. Immediate steps should be taken by the Delhi Government to distribute surplus land among the landless people. This could be done through identification of the Gram Sabha land which was in abundance. Stating that his party would not tolerate neglect of the poor and farmers, Mr. Paswan warned that any inaction in this regard would force his party to agitate.

Others who spoke on the occasion included the Lok Janshakti Party vice-president, Mr. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Delhi unit president, Mr. Lalit Kumar Gautam, senior party leaders, Mr. A.K. Vajpayee and Mr. Satish Yadav. The public meeting was organised by the Lok Janshakti Party Youth Wing general secretary, Gajju Bhaiya.

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