Odd-even rule: MPs demand exemption, AAP govt in Delhi refuses

April 26, 2016

New Delhi, Apr 26: The odd-even rule enforced in Delhi figured in both houses of parliament on Monday — the first day of the new session — with members demanding that lawmakers be exempted even as a few MPs violated it inadvertently or simply walked to Parliament.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai, however, ruled out any more exemptions.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP MPs Chaudhry Babulal, Udit Raj, B.C. Khanduri and Prahlad Patel were among those who violated the scheme.

BJP MP and Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal was fined Rs.2,000 for travelling in an even-numbered car (DL9C AE1914) while going to parliament.

Rawal paid the fine and posted the challan receipt on his Twitter handle. “Made a serious blunder… sorry to Arvindji and Delhiites,” he tweeted, referring to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Anil Dave cycled to reach parliament while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Bhagwant Mann carpooled with some MP colleagues.

The odd-even issue led to a ruckus in the Lok Sabha for a while.

Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, who represents Madhepura in Bihar, said the measure had added to the people’s problems and helped compressed natural gas companies and bus manufacturers.

He alleged that the odd-even scheme had been launched by Kejriwal only for “cheap popularity”.

Bhagwant Mann was seen strongly protesting the remarks.

In the Rajya Sabha, Samajwadi Party member Naresh Agrawal raised the issue and said that MPs get one security pass, which is valid for one car only.

“They (Delhi government) did not exempt MPs (from the odd-even) on purpose to insult them,” he said.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said that most MPs were from outside Delhi.

“Vehicles without security label cannot enter, and the parliament bus is not able to ferry all MPs. It (odd-even) is coming in the way of discharging their duties,” Sharma added.

Janata Dal-United (JD-U) member K.C. Tyagi said while the intention of the Delhi government is good, “they should exempt MPs”.

Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien said it is the government’s duty to facilitate discharge of duties of parliament.

Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said he had received complaints from MPs and suggested that parliamentarians may be exempted from the odd-even scheme when parliament is in session.

Responding to the issue, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government will talk to the appropriate authorities.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai met Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari in the evening and apprised him about the Delhi government arranging six special buses on Monday to ferry the lawmakers.

“Ansari-ji told us that there are many MPs who live far from here. We have demanded a list of such MPs,” Rai said, adding that arrangements will be made to ferry them.

Rai made it clear that there will be no change in the odd-even notification and MPs will not be given exemption.

“Only four days are left for phase II of odd-even to end, so MPs won’t be exempted,” he said.

Rai appealed to the MPs to follow the scheme.

Meanwhile, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that particulate matter pollution (PM 2.5) rose from 81.2 on Saturday to 107.3 on Monday.

The corresponding figure for PM 10 level was 164.2 and 198.5, it said.

The second phase of the odd-even scheme will continue till April 30. The first phase was conducted between January 1 and 15.

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Average age of school children picking up drugs, smoking habit in 10 Indian cities around 13 years!

News Network

December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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