CPI demands Labour Minister Rao's removal

CPI sought the ouster of Labour Minister K C Rao and saidf that the minister was 'not serious' about labour issues.

In a frontal attack on Labour Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the CPI on Sunday sought his removal from the post saying he was 'not serious' about labour issues and had failed to call meetings of parliamentary panels attached to his ministry.

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"We want a new Labour Minister to be appointed by the Prime Minister. The present Minister can be made a Minister without portfolio," CPI leader in Lok Sabha Gurudas Dasgupta told a press conference in New Delhi.

He alleged that Rao "does not even call meetings of the Standing Committee when India's labour force is facing the greatest crisis. He roams about in Andhra Pradesh".

Dasgupta, who was accompanied by all party MPs, also demanded the appointment of a "full-fledged External Affairs Minister" saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who currently holds the portfolio, was 'over-burdened'.