TIA NEWS
The Rajya Sabha could not take up the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Second Amendment) Bill, 2014 on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for consideration and passing today as the opposition members stalled the proceedings amidst noisy scenes.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who moved the GST Bill accused the Congress of stopping the growth and development of the country. He said the real purpose of the opposition uproar is aimed at stalling the progress. He said the External Affairs Minister’s issue is only a pretext not to allow the passage of the Bill. He said GST Bill will give boost to the country’s economy.
“The Congress’ policies were a liability on the country when in power, and its policies remain a liability today,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, accusing the opposition party of seeking to obstruct the country’s economic growth.
Soon after the House met at 2 PM, Anand Sharma of the Congress alleged that the Government has not allocated any time for discussion on the GST Bill. Responding to this, Finance Minister clarified that the Business Advisory Committee of the Rajya Sabha had fixed four hours time at that stage when it was referred by the Lok Sabha.
He said the Upper House had referred it to its own Select Committee. Later the House was adjourned for the day amidst pandemonium. Earlier the House witnessed three adjournments in the pre-lunch session over Lalit Modi controversy.
The chairman of joint parliamentary committee on land acquisition S S Ahluwalia today moved a motion to extend time for presentation of the report on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement amendment bill 2015 up to last day of the first week of the winter session. The Lok Sabha has accepted the motion.
Parliament has given its seal of approval to the Appropriation Bill relating to General Budget for the year 2015-16 and the Appropriation (Railways) Bill for the year 2012-13 with the Rajya Sabha returning them today. The Lok Sabha had earlier passed them.
The Congress-commissioned chaos in the Rajya Sabha meant that the House was adjourned seconds after the government introduced the GST proposal, which creates a national sales tax to replace a matrix of levies in the 29 different states.