Privileges and status of state legislators
It refers to two news-items, one about Delhi government accepting to consider demand of Delhi MLAs to provide individual security, and the other about Haryana government deciding business-class air-travel to state legislators.
Significantly both news-items appear just a day after Union government announcing austerity-measures to reduce government-expenses. Unfortunately such indications of state-governments are misuse of power available to them under federal structure of the Constitution.
Security to elected representatives is directly responsible for insecurity of common persons, because already a significantly large proportion of available security forces which should have been better utilised for security of common citizens, are uselessly involved in security provided to a large fleet of VVIPs which is mainly for status-purpose.
It has been bitterly established that some ones having been provided security-cover, could be murdered because security-persons available to them were misused for personal/household jobs at time of killing. Prime Minister of a country on a demand raised by his country’ Parliamentarians rightly turned it down by saying those who are so much concerned about their personal safety need not enter public-life!
It is time that civil society may also take up issue of curtailing powers available to states by having uniform law and rules in respect of facilities being made available to state-legislators and ministers.
MADHU AGRAWAL
