The first hour Proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Friday disrupted after the Congress sought to raise the issue of Chinese transgressions and build up along the border in the eastern sector.
Members from Congress pressed for acceptance of their notices under rule 267 that sought to set aside the business of the day to take up a debate on the issue but the chair did not permit. As the Congress pressed for a debate on recent clashes along the border with China, the chair adjourned the house briefly till 12 noon. They initially shouted slogans and disrupted matters of public importance being raised by other members through zero-hour submissions but later trooped into the Well of the House, forcing Deputy Chairman Harivansh to adjourn proceedings for around half an hour.
Earlier, when the House met for the day, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said his party and other opposition parties have been trying to raise a very serious issue of national security. Discussions being sought by opposition parties are not being allowed, he alleged.
To this, Harivansh said allegations should not be levelled against the chair. He also cited last week’s ruling of Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expressing inability to accept notices under rule 267 in the absence of such pleas not specifying the particular rule.
Eight notices under rule 267 were received today but barring one by Raghav Chadha of the AAP, none specified the rule that was being sought to be set aside for taking up a discussion, he said, adding that the notices were under consideration of the chairman.
The notices were to take up a discussion on the Chinese aggression along the border, misuse of enforcement agencies against opposition parties and rising unemployment, he said. Harivansh said he had previously cited precedence to state why clarifications on the defence minister’s statement over the issue were disallowed.
While the Congress members shouted slogans, he took up the zero-hour mentions. But the slogan shouting and the disruptions continued.
Kharge later lodged a strong protest over him not being allowed to speak despite Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar’s ruling that he along with two other very distinguished members could speak anytime in the House. Kharge said, on December 14, I intervened but the Deputy Chairman said I cannot raise it as I have not given any notice, he said.
He went on to refer to the December 9 observations made by the Chairman in the House that he would not look at the rule book if the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition or former prime minister Manmohan Singh were to rise and he would allow them to speak.
Kharge said, the Chairman’s observation was that the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition, and former Prime Minister can put across their point of view at any time.
Responding to him, Harivansh said he had allowed the Leader of the Opposition to read out the notice given under the relevant rule.
The Deputy Chairman said he always gives the opportunity to Kharge keeping in mind the feelings that the Chairman had expressed for the positions of Leader of Opposition, Leader of House and former Prime Minister.
Harivansh said he had not allowed clarifications on the statement made by the Defence Minister on the Arunachal incident in view of precedence on such sensitive issues.
Congress and other opposition parties have been trying to raise the issue since December 13, after reports appeared on clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
During zero hour, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Government departments and the Reserve Bank of India are taking coordinated steps to check Chinese mobile apps offering easy loans and cheating people.
Responding to a zero-hour issue raised by a Trinamool Congress member, she said action has been taken against apps that are cheating people by offering loans.
The Minister said, she had in the last 6 to 7 months held several meetings with representatives of the central bank, her ministry officials and Ministry of Corporate Affairs on the issue of Chinese loan apps harassing and cheating people. A lot of apps that have been badly misused have also been brought to the attention of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, she said. So there is a coordinated effort to contain such apps. And also to take action against those who are misusing, she said.
Sitharaman said, we have taken concentrated efforts. RBI, MeiTY, MCA and Ministry of Finance are working to ensure the common man is not cheated by any apps, Sitharaman added. She however did not specify the action taken or the number of apps banned.
Earlier, raising the issue of illegal Chinese apps, Nadimul Haque of TMC said some 600 apps offer small loans without much paperwork and thereafter harass borrowers for recovery.
Stating that a person recently committed suicide after being harassed for recovery of 3,000 rupees loan, he said the apps gain access to private information on phones including contact lists, photos and videos and use them to blackmail borrowers. He demanded stringent action against such apps.
Later during the post-lunch session, members cutting across party lines supported a Private Members’ Bill which calls for setting up an Agarwood Board of India under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Bill urged government to empower the Board to identify the issues, simplify the processes and encourage different Ministries of the Union and State Governments to work in collaboration for the overall development of Agarwood sector.
Opposition members also sparred with BJP members over the amount of time taken to discuss Tripura member Biplab Kumar Deb’s resolution to promote agarwood sector.
Sandosh Kumar P of CPI said that issues raised by Deb are a “distraction” and a “delaying tactic” when other more important issues are to be debated. Farmers are suffering in Kerala and this government is insensitive to problems of farmers in India, he alleged.
Rakesh Sinha of BJP said, the government should identify the climatic zones across the country where Agarwood can be grown. He demanded for a strong policy to promote Agarwood and grants for the same.
Leader of the House Piyush Goyal also criticised the Opposition for disrupting the debate. Goyal criticised the Opposition for invoking Rule regarding Chairman’s power to preserve order and enforce decisions and disrupting Deb’s Bill and alleged that they ant the current issue can be “glossed over”. It is a very very unfortunate incident that certain members of Parliament are resorting to the rule book with absolutely unconnected issues which are not connected with the debate at all,” Goyal said. He asked why the members did not remember this rule when the Opposition parties disrupted the House.
Goyal alleged that the opposition party members are not allowing discussion on important tribal issues, as he intervened urging the Chair to let Sinha conclude his speech.