New Delhi, Dec 10: The Opposition came down heavily on the government in the Lok Sabha on Monday for failing to protect the interests of the country at the recent round of WTO negotiations at Doha.

The issue of five Central ministers attending a dinner where Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief made some controversial remarks, which led to the adjournment of the House for the day on Friday, again cropped up leading to adjournment of the House for over an hour.

In the Rajya Sabha, the government had to concede to the Opposition demand for bringing about changes in the Passport Bill and present it for voting on Tuesday.

Participating in a discussion in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193 on commerce minister Murasoli Maran’s statement on Doha meet, the Opposition lashed out at the government charging it with jeopardising the country’s sovereignty at the WTO ministerial conference.

The government had succumbed to the pressure of the developed countries was the general refrain of their speeches. India was isolated at the conference as was reflected in its declaration, which they said “thoroughly” ignored the interests of the developing countries.

CPM member Rupchand Pal, who initiated the discussion, said except for a few “apparent” gains, India submitted to the pressures from powerful countries, including the United States, which pushed through a new agenda at the meeting. The nation had been misled into believing that significant gains had been made at the conference, he said, adding that a comparison of the draft and the adopted resolutions revealed that India’s only gain was in the matter of public health, but even there the clause referred to “crises” and not general sickness.

He said the United States and the Organisation of European Countries continued to pursue their policy of subsidising agriculture in the name of green concessions, but tried to force India to give these up.

Congress member Mani Shankar Aiyar said the minister, who had earlier described the draft declaration as “neither fair nor just”, now claimed that India made major strides towards realising its goals and that the declaration contained significant achievements for the country.

However, BJP member M A K Swain complimented the minister for making substantial gains at the conference. During the zero hour, insistence by the Opposition for an explanation from five ministers who had attended the dinner with the VHP chief sparked off a furore forcing deputy speaker PM Sayeed to adjourn the House abruptly till 2 pm.

In the Rajya Sabha, succumbing to the Opposition pressure, the government agreed to remove flaws in the Passport (Amendment) Bill by bringing official changes to the proposed legislation on
Tuesday.