Mr Agrawal said the odd even scheme was obstructing the work of the Members.”Because of the scheme, several MPs are not able to take part in the proceedings of the House as most of us have only one auto and the private vehicles are not allowed in the Parliament complex”.
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The Arvind Kejriwal government’s odd-even traffic scheme on Sunday got a word of support from an unexpected quarter – from a parliamentarian of Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal. “The government is cooperating fully for functioning of Parliament and that is why we have deployed special buses”, he said in response to criticism of the scheme by MPs.
The issue came up in the Lok Sabha, too, with MP Rajesh Ranjan wondering aloud who stood to benefit from the vehicle rationing scheme since by all indications it had not made any impact on pollution – the primary reason for introducing it.
BJP MPs Ranjan Bhatt and Hari Om Singh Rathore availed the “MP Special Bus Service” to reach Parliament, as did AAP MPs like Bhagwant Mann. In the Upper House, SP leader Naresh Agarwal said the scheme is an attempt to insult MPs.
“I have appealed to all MPs to follow the odd-even rule”.
Under the odd-even scheme, four-wheelers with odd and even registration numbers are to ply on alternate dates from 8 a.m.to 8 p.m. during the April 15-30 period.
The Transport Minister also appealed to the MPs to pool auto this session of Parliament.
The petition filed by Delhi high court Bar Association president Rajiv Khosla alleged that the 11 April government notification on the fortnight-long odd-even scheme was “arbitrary, illegal, unreasonable and against the spirit of the Constitution”.
Raising the issue of problems faced by people due to restricted traffic norms, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader A.P. Jithender Reddy expressed concern about how the lawmakers could perform their duties when they have only one vehicle officially allotted.
“Only four days are left for phase II of odd-even to end, so MPs won’t be exempted”, he said.
In the run up to the scheme, Mr. Rai had announced the government’s decision to lay special emphasis on checking the unauthorised use of CNG stickers.
The issue reverberated in the Rajya Sabha too, as members demanded exemption from the odd-even scheme, stating that it was preventing them from executing their duties as members of parliament.
The BJP MP later tweeted a challan copy, saying he has paid a fine for violating the odd-even rule.
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The corresponding figure for PM 10 level was 164.2 and 198.5, it said.
