A Akhter / New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today appealed all political parties to extend their full cooperation to make the Budget Session of Parliament smooth and productive.
The Prime Minister’s appeal came during the all party meeting convened by the government ahead of Budget session of Parliament Sunday evening.
Briefing media after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said, the Prime Minister also said that the budget session was important and the government paid much attention to the suggestions emerging from the all party meeting.
He said, the Prime Minister also urged the members of Parliament to see whether the procedures of the meetings of Standing Committees can be replicated in State Assemblies as both the members from ruling parties and opposition have a healthy discussion on issues before them leaving aside their political leanings. He said, the government is ready to discuss any issue in Parliament.
“A host of issues were brought up by the leaders of parties during the meeting. There was a consensus across party lines on ensuring smooth functioning of the Parliament without disruptions and deadlocks to be resolved through constructive discussions in both the Houses”.
In reply to a question, Mr Kumar expressed hope that Triple Talaq Bill which criminalises instant Talaq will be passed in this session. He said, the government will persuade all the parties to pass the bill in the Rajya Sabha unanimously.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress, Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien of TMC, Bharthruhari Mahtab of BJD, CM Ramesh of TDP are among those attending the meeting.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has also called a meeting of party leaders in the House later this evening. During the meeting, Ms Mahajan will seek co-operation from the floor leaders of different parties to ensure smooth transaction of business in the House.
The first phase of the Budget session will begin on Monday with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to both the houses of Parliament assembled together in the Central Hall.
The Economic Survey will also be tabled on the same day in the both the Houses separately half an hour after President’s address.
The General Budget will be presented on Thursday. During the session, the government is expected to give a fresh push for passage of the Triple Talaq legislation and a bill seeking constitutional status for the OBC commission.
The first phase of the session will continue till the 9th of next month. After a recess of nearly a month, the session will resume from 5th March and will go on till 6th of April.