Maharashtra-Karnataka border row figures in Rajya Sabha

PTI, Dec 8, 2022, 1:22 PM IST

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Thursday sought to raise the Maharashtra-Karnataka border row in Rajya Sabha but was disallowed by the Chair.

When the House met for the day, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he has received notices under rule 267 but was disallowing them as they were not in order and did not specify the rule.

Notices under rule 267 seek suspension of the business of the day to take up a discussion on the issue being raised.

Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), who had given the notice under rule 267, said the border issue between Karnataka and Maharashtra is an important issue and needs to be discussed at the national level.

Dhankhar, however, disallowed it, saying the requirements of invoking rule 267 were not met.

”Now if the Hon’ble member seeks to make an issue which is tangential, it will be inappropriate,” he said, adding the member could speak in respect of rigours of compliance of the rule.

”Come out with a formalised request, it will receive consideration and there will be a structured discussion,” he said.

The border row escalated into violence after vehicles from both states were attacked and damaged in Belagavi and Pune.

Since its creation on May 1, 1960, Maharashtra has claimed that 865 villages, including Belagavi (then Belgaum), Carvar and Nipani, should be merged into Maharashtra. Karnataka, however, has refused to part with its territory.

The House thereafter took zero-hour mentions.

Elamaran Kareem of the CPI(M) raised the issue of the Union government and the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) not yet issuing any guidelines after the Supreme Court’s judgment on higher pensions last month.

The apex court, he said, had allowed another opportunity to EPFO members who have availed of the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) to opt for higher annuity over the next four months.

But no clear orders on implementation of this have yet been issued, he said, adding that out of the seven million pensioners, three million get less than the minimum prescribed pension of Rs 1,000 per month.

He demanded that the minimum monthly pension be raised to Rs 9,000.

Congress’ P Bhattacharya raised the issue of the jute industry being in precarious condition after synthetic packaging material was allowed to be used in certain specified sectors instead of a law mandating use of jute.

This, he alleged, was being done due to the pressure created by the powerful synthetic packaging manufacturers.

DMK’s KRN Rajeshkumar sought bringing back the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertiliser due to the technical nature of the business.

IFFCO, which manufactures crop fertiliser, has been brought under the administrative control of the recently created Ministry of Cooperation, he said.

Jebi Mather Hisham of the Congress sought the implementation of a Rs 475 crore package for those impacted by the Vizhinjam port container project near Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

She demanded higher compensation for fishermen who earlier this week called off a nearly 140-day protest against the project that they said was to blame for coastal erosion and affecting their livelihood.