Review of Parliament proceedings
BY ANDALIB AKHTER
Cutting across party lines members Of Lok Sabha expressed concern over certain remarks by an MP, casting aspirations on Speaker Om Birla’s conduct in the House and said dignity of the House and the Chair must be upheld.
Without taking anyone’s name, Birla first said that he was pained at after seeing some remarks casting aspirations on his conduct.
He said that MPs should be careful while making comments – both inside and outside the House or on social media.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury said all members do respect the Speaker who is the guardian of the House and that is why they always cooperate with him.
He said that the dignity of the chair must be respected. Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC said that the whole House wholeheartedly share the sentiment of the Speaker and the high respect of the chair must be honoured.
Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena said the whole House is united in keeping the honour of the Speaker intake. A Raja of DMK said that his party has high respect for the Speaker and any comment on the chair is highly regrettable.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said that the Speaker is the honour of the house and master of the house.
Ritesh Pandey of BSP said his party and his leader Mayawati always favoured maintenance of high standard inside the house.
Supriya Sule of the NCP said everyone was at pain and sad over whatever had happened on Thursday.
We must commit good behaviour, she said.
Bhartruhari Mehtab of the BJD said that it was a sad day.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the government fully appreciates the efforts of the Speaker for running the house smoothly with everyone’s cooperation and assured that it will do whatever possible to protect the honour of the chair.
Participating in the debate on motion of thanks on President’s address, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury alleged that religious hatred has been increasing in the country.
BJP member Kirit Solanki lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to all citizens of the country.
The Rajya Sabha today resumed the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address. Prasanna Acharya of BJD supported the motion, but said there were some contradictions in the words and deeds of the Union government.
He however lauded the government for taking the right decision to start the Republic Day celebrations from January 23, which is the birthday of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He praised the Centre for taking a “nationalistic approach in some respect”.
Raising the issue of farmers he said the government has not been able to meet the target of doubling their income by 2022. He expressed concern over farmer suicides. He wanted to know whether it will bring a law to give legal status to MSP.
Pointing out that women’s representation in both Parliament and assemblies is very low at around 10 per cent, Acharya said it is high time to bring the Women Reservation Bill. He demanded special status to Odisha.
K Somaprasad of CPI-M said the government should have vaccinated all its citizens by now, and alleged that it did not come to the aid the people during the pandemic. He also spoke against the high taxes on petroleum products and joblessness.
Participating in the debate, Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD said the government needed to show more empathy during the pandemic.
Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena said the President’s address did not talk about the problems faced by farmers and the death of 700 farmers, women safety and joblessness by youth.
K Ravindra Kumar of TDP said Andhra Pradesh was in a state of collapse as state’s finance were in bad shape.
The members also took up the private member’s bills and some members including Amar Patnaik, Manoj Kumar Jha, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shanta Chhetri and Fauzia Khan, introduced new bills.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh also gave a ruling that it was up to the House to take up a private member’s bill for amending the Preamble of the Constitution and the Chair cannot say anything on the issue.
The remarks came in response to a bill moved by K J Alphons of BJP last year, which was strongly opposed by Opposition members, including RJD’s Manoj Kumar Jha and MDMK’s Vaiko.
The deputy chairman had reserved the ruling on the issue on December 3, 2021 after Opposition members had stalled the introduction of the bill.
Harivansh noted that it was up to the House to decide how it would like to deal with the motion.
Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe of BJP withdrew a private member bill moved by him proposing to spend 25 per cent of Corporate Social Responsibility fund for the maintenance of historic monuments by amending the Companies Act, saying the government has understood the essence of his proposal.
Participating in the discussion on a private member’s bill for Population Regulation moved by Rakesh Sinha of BJP, several opposition members raised concerns saying Indian women of this generation will be the biggest victims. The proposed private member bill seeks to regulate population, by promoting two-child per couple policy.
Fauzia Khan of NCP and L Hanumanthaiah of Congress also expressed apprehension that the move is targeted at a particular community and if passed, it will only further marginalise the marginalised. The biggest victims of the Bill will be Indian women in general of this generation, irrespective of any community, Khan said. She said as such at present many women in India can’t refuse to marriage or having children and they are forced to undergo non-voluntary birth control measures.
Manoj Kumar Jha of RJD said no law should lead to victimisation of women. There is maximum possibility of victimisation of women in this, he said.
Amar Patnaik of BJD said while one may think that legislative and coercive measures offer the best way to achieve population control, history showed otherwise.
L Hanumanthaiah of Congress opposed the bill.
V Sivadasan of CPI (M) emphasised that there needs to be discussion around the pathetic living standards of majority of Indian children and measures to prevent infant deaths.
Binoy Viswam of CPI questioned the approach of the Bill and punitive measures saying that the challenges faced by the country are on account of poverty and not due to its population.
Vikas Mahatme of BJP sought to allay concerns of the Opposition that the Bill has been brought with an eye on the Muslim population, saying it has been introduced to prevent demographic dividend turning into a “demographic disaster”.
His party colleague Mahesh Poddar said there will be inequality in the society and among states if there is no control over population growth.
Earlier, the Rajya Sabha witnessed noisy scenes and a walkout by DMK, Congress, Left Parties, RJD and TMC members over the Tamil Nadu Governor’s decision to return the NEET exemption bill.
DMK members wanted to raise the issue during the Zero Hour, but Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow. They were joined by the Congress in trooping into the Well of the House to raise the matter.
Since the Chairman did not allow them to raise the issue, DMK and Congress members staged a walkout from the House.
Chairman Naidu later said people were feeling happy that the Rajya Sabha was functioning without disruption and members are having their say. He also urged the members to follow rules and not disrupt.
During her zero hour mention, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi asked the government to expedite the construction of transit accommodation units for Kashmiri Pandits and to facilitate their return to the valley. Raising the issue of the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, she said they have been living in exile for 32 years and they continue to be denied the right to return home.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed the house during question hour that the government is committed to forming a panel on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the Election Commission has said it can be done after the polls are over.
During Question hour, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said social media needs to be made more accountable and stricter rules in this regard could be brought in if there is political consensus on the matter. He also said whenever the government has taken any step to make social media accountable, the opposition has accused it of curbing the freedom of speech.
Prominent Muslim leader and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has rejected the government’s move to give him ‘Z’ category security and demanded that the stringent anti-terror law UAPA should be slapped against the person who fired at his vehicle while campaigning in Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, a day after his vehicle was attacked at Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi said he does not need the ‘Z’ category security and reject the government’s move as he wanted to be an ‘A’ category citizen rather than a ‘Z’ category security holder.
After the incident, the government on Friday decided to give Owaisi ‘Z’ category security by commandos of the CRPF round the clock. He said“I don’t want the ‘Z’ category security. I want to be a ‘A’ category citizen. I want to live as a common citizen, to speak. If poor is safe I will also be safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car.
“But we must find out who are these people who have so much hatred, he said.
Owaisi claimed that right wing extremism is growing in the country and the government must take action as it is very dangerous for the country.
He said the people of UP will reply to the bullets through ballots.Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who was present in the House, said that one person was immediately arrested for the attack and a vehicle has been seized.
The UP government has taken prompt action to nab the culprits, he said. Goyal also said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will make a statement in the House on Monday.
The car of the chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was allegedly fired upon in Hapur while he was returning to Delhi after attending election-related events in western Uttar Pradesh.
No one was injured in the incident.
Owaisi had urged the Election Commission to ensure an independent probe into the incident.