New Delhi: The BJD has opposed the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which calls for changes that can lead to construction activity near areas of heritage importance.
The BJD MP from Bargarh Prabhas Kumar Singh spoke on behalf of the BJD Tuesday when the Bill came up for discussion in the Lower House. Singh said, “I oppose this Bill. If Parliament clears this amending Bill, national monuments will be threatened.”
Prabhas told the LS that the Bill gave powers to issue orders for construction in restricted areas of heritage sites to the Centre. “Why should the Centre get these powers and not states? This government has been going the whole hog on its mission to take away powers from the state and hand it over to the Centre. You did the same with GST where New Delhi gets a veto vote over state interests in the GST Council.”
Taking on the Centre over merits of the Bill Prabhas said, “It may also imply that monuments which are symbols of some religion or other can be targeted on the strength of this Act. Those buildings which are not important for a certain stream of thought will be allowed to be desecrated to suit their purposes.”
He accused the NDA government of turning heritage sites into a tool to earn revenue and said the true importance of monuments within the state could only be seen by state governments.
“Delhi should not be the place to dictate sensibilities. There are monuments which might hold immense importance for locals and the state, but may not hold the same value for the Centre
and they will order its modification,” he said. He added that works at heritage sites could damage their aesthetic value and substantially reduce its historic charm.
PNN
