Under the Representation of People Act if a candidate commits a corrupt act under Section 123 on the ground of religion, he is disqualified. Now, a time has come when we have to legislate that political parties which are spreading hatred and appeal on caste and communal lines, are also banned if our democracy has to survive and thrive. I would appeal to the Government to give special attention and provide economic upliftment to the people living in the border districts of our country. In this context, I would like to draw the attention of the Government that like JURM, we must have a scheme for the upliftment of the hill districts and border districts because our neighbouring countries should not get an opportunity of exploiting the unemployed youth and create tension in the country. I would also like to make a request to the Government that, for a coordinated and planned development of the entire Himalayan Region, we should set up Himalayan Development Board under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister so that the people living in the remote areas of the Himalayan Region get the benefit of economic growth and prosperity. I would like to confine my remarks to some of the issues that have come before us for some time past. I would like to refer to the tendency of monopoly, the policy of the government and the distribution of governmental patronage to newspapers. Before I do that, I would like to make one general observation. The Press Commission was constituted some time ago by the Government and it had made various recommendations which were partly accepted and partly not but today the situation has changed considerably. In their report every year, you find new trends developing in the Indian Press and new forces coming into play.
