STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, ‘Agnipath’ scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of ‘unparliamentary words’ at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
Sources said the leaders were unanimous in their demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and called for a discussion on important issues like price rise and the status of the economy during the session starting Monday.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government was open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of Parliament.
32 bills indicated for presentation
New Delhi: A day before the start of the monsoon session of Parliament, the government on Sunday said 32 bills have been indicated by various departments for presentation in two houses of which 14 are ready, even as it asserted that it wants discussions on all of them in a democratic way.
After an all-party meeting here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also said that some of these 32 bills have already been discussed by standing committees of Parliament.
“Thirty two bills have been indicated by various departments for being presented in this session of Parliament, of which 14 bills are ready, but we will not pass the bills without discussion,” he told reporters.
Joshi said that the government had invited around 45 parties to the all-party meeting, of which 36 attended it.
“I am thankful to them for participating in the meeting. During the meeting chaired by senior minister Rajnath Singh, they demanded some of the issues to be discussed.
“Some of the issues that were raised included about the words that have been declared as ‘unparliamentary’ and it has been clarified that the compilation of unparliamentary phrases is being done every year for a long time,” he said.
On the listed business for the monsoon session that will start on July 18 and is scheduled to continue till August 12, Joshi said, “We have listed 32 bills so that they (opposition) are also prepared and therefore we are giving notice in advance.
“All we are saying is that 14 bills are ready and we can consider even more. More importantly, we believe in democratically discussing all the bills. We believe in democracy and we are open for discussions on all matters,” he added.
According to official documents, the bills listed by the government for the upcoming Parliament session include the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to rationalise the government’s role in cooperatives and increase participation in the working of multi-state cooperative societies, to increase public faith in them and create a conducive environment for their growth and development.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill seeks to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by introducing provisions on cross-border insolvency and certain other amendments for a time-bound resolution of stressed assets while maximising their value.
Two separate bills for Constitution amendment to revise the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are also listed for introduction.
The ‘Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill’ seeks to replace the 155-year-old ‘Press and Registration of Books Act’ with a simplified version that decriminalises various provisions and brings digital media under its ambit.
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill seeks to provide more teeth to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and amend a law dealing with ancient monuments. It is also aimed at rationalising prohibited areas and other amendments.
The most significant aspect of the bill is that it will replace the provision which allows a 100-metre prohibited area for construction activity around centrally-protected monuments with site-specific limits to be decided by an expert committee.
Another bill listed during the session is the Kalakshetra Foundation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which seeks to amend the Kalakshetra Foundation Act, 1993 to empower the Kalakshetra Foundation to award certificates; diplomas; post-graduate diplomas; degrees to graduate and post-graduate; doctoral and post-doctoral courses; and conduct research in the areas of dance, traditional theatre, drama, Carnatic and traditional music, visual arts, craft education and art education.
The Family Courts (Amendment) and Indian Antarctic bills are listed to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Monday, while the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill is listed for consideration and passing on the same day in Rajya Sabha.
Also, the Trafficking of Persons (Protection, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2022 seeks to prevent and combat trafficking, especially of women and children. It also seeks to provide for care, protection, assistance and rehabilitation to the victims, while respecting their rights, and creating a supportive legal, economic and social environment for them, and ensuring the prosecution of offenders.
According to the draft bill, a person found guilty of trafficking can be imprisoned for a term not less than seven years that may extend to 10 years.
The convict shall also be liable to a fine not less than Rs 1 lakh that may extend up to Rs 5 lakh. Severe punishment has been proposed for offences classified as aggravated forms of trafficking.
Several anti-human trafficking activists and NGOs have been pushing for the early passage of the bill in Parliament.
The Cantonment Bill 2022 is expected to bring in measures to ensure that the civilian population living within the cantonments does not face any difficulties. It seeks to enhance efficiency in running cantonments across the country.
At present, 62 cantonments are operating across the country and most of them have a civil-military mix in their demography. The administration of the cantonments comes under the authority of the Ministry of Defence.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked how 32 bills, lined up by the government, will get passed in 14 days in Parliament and said, “What is the government is trying to do?”
“We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI,” Kharge told reporters after the meeting.
Leaders from almost all parties including Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s T R Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, Trinamool Congress’s Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar, besides Biju Janata Dal’s Pinaki Misra, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party’s Vijaysai Reddy, Telangana Rashtra Samiti’ Keshav Rao, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s A D Singh and Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut were present.
The government was represented by Union Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also the deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, his cabinet colleague and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.
‘Today, in the all-party meeting, many political parties, including those supporting NDA, pointed out the contradiction in the Modi government claiming credit for its presidential candidate on the one hand and killing off the Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the other hand,’ Congress’ Jairam Ramesh tweeted after the meeting.
He earlier raised strong objections over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the all-party meeting to discuss issues that will come up in Parliament.
Indian Union Muslime League leader E T Mohammed Basheer said every opposition party raised the issue of Agnipath, price rise and the row over the words listed in a new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that will be considered ‘unparliamentary’.
BJD leader Pinaki Misra came out in support of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the issue, saying he was ‘unfairly targeted’ as listing out such words has been a routine practice in Parliament.
The BJD leader also pressed for the passage of the women’s reservation bill besides demanding a legislative council for Odisha, where the party is in power for many years now.
“It is high time we insisted that government should bring the women’s reservation bill,” said All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M Thambidurai.
DMK’s T R Baalu and AIADMK’s Thambidurai also raised the Sri Lankan crisis and said India should intervene to settle the issue.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, however, hit out at the opposition and accused them of belittling Parliament by making issues out of non-issues.
He said the opposition is doing so as it had nothing against the government and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being recognised within the country as well as abroad.
Condemning the Opposition for creating a row over unparliamentary words and circulars issued in routine for the past several years, he said such a practice is being carried on since 1954, when the first such list was brought out, and the opposition was doing so as it was devoid of any issues against the government.
Joshi claimed the government was ‘doing good work’ and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recognised not just by people within India but also those abroad.
“The Opposition is trying to make issues out of non-issues as they do not have anything against the Government… It is trying to belittle the image of Parliament,” he said on the row over unparliamentary words.
“Actually there is no major issue against the government as it is functioning well under PM Modi’s leadership and it is being hailed in may elections,” he said.
Joshi said presiding officers in previous years also released such a list of unparliamentary words, but the Opposition did not raise it then. He said the words are expunged on the demands made in Parliament and the Chair takes the final call.
“No word has been barred from use in Parliament and the Lok Sabha Secretariat has been bringing out such a list of unparliamentary words since 1954,” Joshi also said, adding that it is the Lok Sabha Secretariat and not the government that brings out such a list.
Similarly, he said a normal circular was issued by Rajya Sabha Secretariat on not holding any dharnas and protests in Parliament, but the Opposition raised it as if it is something new.
Such circulars are issued ahead of every session, he said.
On criticism over the absence of the prime minister from the meeting, he said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised the issue.
“The prime minister never attended all-party meetings before 2014 when the Congress was in power.
“It was his good gesture to do this from 2014. They are trying to make an issue that is a non-issue. Our senior colleague Rajnath Singh and deputy leader of the house chaired the meeting,” he said.
“We are open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of parliament,” Joshi said when asked about the opposition demand on the Agnipath scheme.
He also stated that the government would hold an all-party meeting on the Sri Lanka situation on Tuesday which will be chaired by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar.