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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday blamed the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for disrupting the monsoon session of Parliament over the coal blocks allocation issue. He described the inactivity as "a negation of democracy". He said there were important issues that needed to be discussed and resolved in Parliament. Reiterating the UPA Government's stand on the coal blocks allocation issue, Dr. Singh said his government has great respect for the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, but retained the right question its findings on coal block allocations, besides other issues. "Both houses were paralysed because the CAG had issued a report, which rightly or wrongly makes certain allegations about the public functionaries. We have great respect for the institution of the CAG, but if we do respect this institution, we must be willing to debate its findings in the Public Accounts Committee, or even on the floor of the Parliament, which we have always been willing," said Dr. Singh. "The opposition chose not to take advantage of the settled institutional practices dealing with reports of the CAG and insisted on disrupting the Parliament. This is negation of democracy. If this thought process is allowed to get a momentum, that will be a grave violation of the norms of parliamentary politics as we have understood," he added. Asserting that India is faced with many problems, Dr. Singh said that a discussion on all important issues was in immediate need. "There are problems of rising communal tension, the problems of regional and ethnic tension, there are problems of terrorism, there are problems of Naxalism. Parliament should have debated all these issues. Parliament was not allowed to discuss these very important issues before the country," he added. Dr. Singh further said the world as a whole is faced with serious economic difficulties and grappling with recession. "We are trying to prevent India getting affected by what is happening in the outside world. Parliament should have discussed these issues. What is our economic strategy to deal with all these global tensions and developments? Parliament was not allowed to do any of these things," said Dr. Singh. "The result is, Parliament, which is the forum, where we articulate our people's felt needs and felt urges, was totally paralyzed," he added. Dr. Singh further urged the people of the country to decide whether this was a way to work in a functioning democracy. "I would like my countrymen and countrywomen to make up their mind if this is the right way to serve our functioning democracy. We take pride in the fact that since Independence we have been a practicing functioning democracy. What we have witnessed in this session is a total negation of that," said Dr. Singh. "And, all right thinking people in our country should stand up and unitedly come with one voice that 'come what may, parliamentary institutions must be allowed to function with the norms as we have known them since India became independent," he added. The Monsoon Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die earlier today, as the BJP-led opposition remained adamant on its demand for the Prime Minister's resignation over the coal blocks allocation issue. Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari making his valedictory remarks before adjourning the upper house of Parliament sine die, said this year's wash out monsoon session of Parliament is likely to be remembered for the work not done, rather than anything else. The month-long session, which began on August 8, has been one of the least productive sessions in the history of Parliament - only six of the 31 bills listed could be passed as logjam over coal scam paralysed the House. The session, which usually starts in July, got delayed due to the presidential election on July 19 and the vice presidential poll on August 7. Among the crucial bills, which passed in Parliament are the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill and a bill to create six AIIMS-like premier medical institutes across the country. Of 15 bills listed for introduction, just five were introduced. Of the 108 hours that the Lok Sabha was scheduled to meet, it worked for just 24 hours and the Rajya Sabha worked for 26 of 90 hours. The coal scandal has dominated this session of Parliament after the CAG report said that the under-priced sales of coalfields would have cost the national exchequer as much as 33 billion dollars in lost revenues. The BJP is demanding the resignation of Dr. Singh since he headed the Coal Ministry between 2006 and 2009, when many of the sales occurred.

PM blames BJP for Parliament disruption, a negation of democracy