Concern was expressed in the Lok Sabha today over the travails of thousands of Indians stranded in Europe because of cancellation of flights in the wake of fly ash caused by volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Anto Antony (Cong) said some 70,000 flights from Europe have been cancelled putting into difficulty a lot of Indians including tourists and travel agents.
He said Indian Missions in Europe should be instructed to help stranded Indians get visas from various European countries so that they can return home as early as possible.
A number of other issues ranging from pirate attacks on Indian interests in the Gulf of Aden to the situation caused by the recent tornado in Bihar, West Bengal and Assam also were raised during the Zero Hour by various members.
Jaishree Patel (BJP) voiced concern over terror spread by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden who looted Indian boats and took over 100 Indians hostage.
Patel said foolproof measures needed to be taken to check the menace which continued even after setting up of Marine Security Patrol plan jointly by several nations. She said pirates had taken more than 100 Indians hostage, many of them from Gujarat.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) said storms have lashed Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, killing over 100 people in Bihar alone and rendering hundreds homeless. He questioned the functioning of Disaster Management Authority and said the Centre should not leave it to states when natural calamities occur.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said he would convey the matter to Home Minister P Chidambaram as natural calamities are dealt with his ministry. Mahabal Mishra (Congress) demanded inclusion of Bhojpuri language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
He said Bhojpuri was neglected though it is spoken by 18 crore people in the country as also in Suriname and Mauritius. On the contrary, Nepali and Sindhi were in 8th Schedule though "nobody speaks" these languages in India, he said.
Mishra even tried to reach out to Speaker Meira Kumar, saying the subject was of interest to her also and she should instruct the government to include the language in the 8th Schedule. Nishikant Dubey (BJP) complained that many places in Jharkhand lacked water, healthcare and education facilities and warned that the state could face insurgency problems.
He said the union government could not pass the buck by saying that such matters came under the purview of state governments, particularly considering that the Centre was taking 70 per cent of Jharkhand's coal, 60 per cent of bauxite besides other minerals like uranium and copper.
