By A Correspodent
The Rajya Sabha today conducted normal business without any adjournment. Smooth conduct of Zero Hour, Question Hour, and Private Members’ Legislative Business was witnessed in the House before it was finally adjourned for the day. In the morning, when the house assembled, Opposition members raised the issue of suspension of 12 members. The Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said that he has already given a suggestion to the Leader of the House and Leader of Opposition and other members to sit together and find a solution to the issue for smooth functioning of the house.
Union Minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said that he is ready to meet the Leader of the Opposition, but the suspended members have not even apologized for their unruly behavior and instead, they are justifying their conduct. On the allegation that Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was also not allowed to speak, Mr. Naidu said that Mr. Kharge was allowed to speak during Zero Hour on 30th of November.
Mr. Naidu also rejected the motion moved by Opposition members on various issues saying they can be raised on other avenues in the house. Later, members of the different political parties in the Rajya Sabha raised various issues during Zero Hour with the permission of the Chair. After that, the house took up Question Hour in which the members asked the listed questions related to different Ministries. After completing the Question Hour, Deputy Chairman Harivansh adjourned the house for lunch till 2.30 P.M.
When the house reassembled post-lunch, the Private Members’ legislative business was taken up in which various bills were introduced. The house also took up the Private Member Bill – The Companies ( Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passing in which members including from BJP, Congress, and BJD participated. Replying to the discussion on the bill, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Minister Rao Inderjit Singh said, he has sympathy with the BJP Member Vinay Sahasrabuddhe behind the spirit of the bill for allocating 25 percent of funds from the two percent of Corporate Social Responsibility fund for conservation of country’s historic monuments. The Minister said that he can not support the bill as the declaration of list of monuments is beyond the mandate of Companies Act, 2013.
Giving details of Corporate Social Responsibility activities from 2014 onwards, Mr. Singh said that in the financial year 2014-15 under Art and Culture in which monuments can also be included, 117 crore rupees were spent. While in 2017-18, a total of 395 crore rupees were spent and in the current financial year, the amount has gone up to two thousand 93 crore rupees. The Minister requested the BJP member to withdraw the bill. After that, the Chair adjourned the house for the day.