The lok Sabha on Tuesday passed amendments to the Bill on protection of monuments to allow the Government to take up infrastructure projects within prohibited areas around protected archeological sites. “Moving away from the party lines, the members have supported the Bill,” Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said while replying to the concerns raised by the members during the debate on Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The bar on new construction within prohibited areas of a protected monument was adversely affecting various public works and developmental projects of the Central Government, the bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons said.
Addressing the concerns of Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Sharma said the change which is being brought about was in the national interest. He said no individual or private entity should be benefited and this bill should be used only in the interest of the nation.
He said the need was felt to amend the law to allow “construction works related to infrastructure financed and carried out by any department or office of the central government for public purposes which is necessary for the safety or security of the public at large”.
There are more than 3,600 monuments and sites that are are centrally-protected under the jurisdiction of the Archaeological Survey of India, which is responsible for their maintenance.
Manoj Tiwari (BJP) supported the bill and claimed that it will help in preservation of cultural monuments and sites. As a member of a standing committee dealing with monuments, he came to know that 24 such sites are only on paper and do not really exist due to encroachment, he said. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) asked the Government to reconsider the bill and send it at the least to a standing committee. “Whom are you trying to benefit,” he asked and added that such relaxations will “open a Pandora’s box”.