House panel chief away, BJP members withdraw draft opposing Air India sale
has also asked the government to ensure that NLEM drugs are readily available at chemist shops NEW DELHI: Taking advantage of the absence of chairman Derek O’brien of the Trinamool Congress, BJP lawmakers who are members of the parliamentary committee on transport forcibly withdrew the panel’s “adverse” draft report on Air India’s divestment.
The draft report had slammed the government’s plan to disinvest the ailing national carrier and suggested that the airline must continue to be state-owned, albeit with less government control. It gave as many as 11 rea- NEW DELHI: Private hospitals should only prescribe from the list of 376 drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), and not charge a premium of more than 15% over market rates on diagnostic tests they conduct, according to the nine-member committee set up by the Delhi government to formulate norms for the profit margins of private hospitals.
The committee, headed by Delhi’s director general of health services, was formed in Decem-
DRAFT REPORT HAD SLAMMED THE GOVT’S PLAN TO DISINVEST AIR INDIA, SUGGESTED THAT IT CONTINUE TO BE STATEOWNED
sons on why the government should not sell stakes in AI to other airlines.
At Monday’s meeting of the parliamentary committee on transport, sparks flew between the BJP’S Lok Sabha member Rakesh Singh and members of the Congress and other Opposi- tion parties after he proposed the withdrawal of the controversial report. Singh acted as the chairman in the absence of the Trinamool leader and adopted a proposal to withdraw the draft report.
The draft report created a stir even as the government said that it would go ahead and divest part of its stake in the loss-making state-owned airline. On Monday, Bloomberg News first reported that the government’s plan involves breaking the airline up into four to facilitate its sale process.
On Monday, the BJP claimed that all parliamentary rules were followed in its trashing of the draft report and that the ruling National Democratic Alliance has a majority in the 31-member panel. O’brien said the move proved the BJP wants “to destroy all institutions” . “We will counsel them,” he added.
According to two eyewitnesses, CPI(M)’S Ritabrata Banerjee, Congress’ Kumari Selja and TMC’S Arpita Ghosh engaged in a heated debate with the BJP lawmakers and eventually walked out before the draft report was withdrawn.