Jairam Ramesh submits privilege notice on appointment of former BJP MP as NMA chairperson

As per provisions, if admitted, the privilege motion would be against the current Culture Minister

Senior Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday submitted a notice seeking to move a privilege motion against the Culture Minister charging that the appointment of former BJP MP and RSS weekly Panchajanya's former editor Tarun Vijay as the National Monuments Authority (NMA) chairperson was a "mockery of law", as he was not qualified to hold the post.

Ramesh, the Congress Chief Whip, wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and said the government for the first time has appointed a Chairperson whose educational and professional background "does not, in any way whatsoever, meet the requirements of law as stipulated mandatorily by Parliament".

"That the appointee is a former MP is irrelevant and makes no difference whatsoever," he said citing the provisions of The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010.

According to the Act, the Chairperson should be appointed by the President on a whole-time basis and should have "proven experience and expertise in the field of archaeology, country and town planning, architecture, heritage, conservation architecture or law".

Vijay, a former editor of Sangh mouthpiece 'Panchajanya' and Rajya Sabha MP during 2010-16, has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. He is the third Chairperson of NMA appointed in 2019 when Prahlad Singh Patel was Culture Minister while at present G Kishan Reddy is Culture Minister.

As per provisions, if admitted, the privilege motion would be against the current Minister.

Previously, Himanshu Prabha Roy, who was appointed in 2012, and Sushmita Pande, who took over in 2016, were chairpersons of the NMA. The term of a chairperson is three years.

Roy, who has an MPhil in archaeology from Cambridge and PhD in history, was a Professor at the Centre for Historical Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru when she was appointed the first chairperson of NMA. She also has a number of books on archaeology and history to her credit.

Pande headed the School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in Ujjain-based Vikram University.

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