NEW DELHI, July 14: The government is not considering to bring any Constitutional amendment for a presidential form of government, home minister L K Advani told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. However, it proposes to set up a commission to review the Constitution in the light of the experience of the past 50 years and to make suitable recommendations, he said in a written answer.States: The government is not contemplating any general reorganisation of the states and as such no proposal to constitute a states reorganisation commission is under its consideration, he said. Creation of new states like Uttaranchal, Vananchal and Chhattisgarh may lead to an increase in administrative expenditure but this has to be viewed in the context of the aspirations of the people of the areas concerned, he said.
Citizens: There is a proposal to compulsorily register all citizens and non-citizens of and above 14 years of age residing in the country and issue multipurpose national identity cards, the minister said.
Employment:There were 39.2 million job-seekers, all of whom need not necessarily be unemployed, on the live register of the employment exchanges as on March 31 this year.
ONGC: ONGC Videsh Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC, is pursuing oil exploration and production projects in Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iraq, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Santosh Kumar Gangwar said. In addition, Oil India Ltd is also pursuing acquiring participating interest in an exploration project in Oman, he said.
Consumer Act: On the recommendations of the cabinet secretariat, an expert group had been constituted to suggest suitable amendments to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 to make the act more effective and purposeful, food and consumer affairs minister Satpal Singh Yadav informed Lok Sabha. After considering the report, a draft note has been prepared and sent to the ministries/departments concerned inviting their comments, he said.
Sugar: There is no central pool for sugar.However, a certain percentage of sugar produced by sugar factories is taken by the government as levy, Satya Pal Singh Yadav said. After the release of monthly levy sugar quota pertaining to the month of August 1998, a quantity of 5.20 lakh tonne is available on the levy sugar account, he said.
He also informed that monthly levy sugar allocations are made one and half months in advance enabling food corporation of India and other lifting agencies of the direct allottee states to ensure smooth availability of the sugar to the consumers.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
