The issue that led to the adjournment of Rajya Sabha on Monday, special status to Andhra Pradesh, stalled Rajya Sabha again as Congress pressed for the taking up of the private member's Bill.
9.19 pm: Lok Sabha adjourned till 11 am tomorrow.
8.00: Zero Hour begins
7.58 pm: The Lok Sabha passes The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.
7.47 pm: Motion for the consideration of the Child Labour Amendment Bill is adopted. The LS now takes up the Bill clause by clause.
7.45 pm: Minister Dattatreya finishes his speech by entreating the MPs to pass the Bill.
7.43 pm: We are linking this Bill with the RTE Act so if the minimum age for compulsory education of 14 years is raised, it will automatically rise in this Bill as well - Minister Dattatreya
7.41 pm: There have been 10 lakh raids last year and 26000 violations were nabbed. So we will definitely strengthen the enforcement of the Bill - Minister Dattatreya
7.40 pm: There should not be any doubt, both the ILO conventions will be ratified - Minister Dattatreya
7.37 pm: There is no employee-employer relationship here. For example, in a kirana shop, if there is a mother and child running it and a the mother steps out for a moment, who sits there? It's the child! - Minister Dattatreya
7.35 pm: Earlier, there was no rehabilitation fund. The fines used to go to the department. But with this Bill, the government will have to deposit Rs. 15000 for every child released labour - Minister Dattatreya
7.30 pm: Some have asked for more punishment. In the old Bill, the fine was a minimum of Rs. 10000 and a jail term of three months to one year for first time offenders. We have increased it to Rs 20000 and a jail term of six months minimum. There are similar provisions for adolescents as well. If this Act was around when I was working as a child, my mother would have gone to jail and so would have I. So we are giving 'first warning' and then the penalty kicks in - Minister Dattatreya
7.25 pm: We have enabled many safeguards in the new Bill, says Mr. Dattatreya. "I don't think Mr. Kharge understood it very well," he jokes.
7.22 pm: We have given a new definition for adolescence - from 14 years to 18 years. Adolescents cannot be employed in hazardous jobs: Mr. Dattatreya
7.20 pm: Mr. Dattatreya justifies the inclusion of 'blood relatives' in the ambit of family business. MPs object.
7.16 pm: The purpose of the Bill should that we should be able to practically implement it. So we have given some exemptions: Dattatreya
7.13 pm: Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Bandaru Dattatreya, speaks about the Bill.
7.11 pm: Leader of the Congress in LS, Mallikarjun Kharge says the Bill dilutes the provisions of complusory education and wants the removal of clauses 5 and 6 in the interest of children.
7.00 pm: We will extend LS till the Bill is passed and for Zero Hour: Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai
6.55 pm: "Incentives have to be given to parents if they don't send their children to work, but there needs to be mild punishment as well. After 14 years of age, the child needs compulsory education. If they're not being allowed to work and they can't study as well, there's every possibility that the child might become anti-social."
6:30 pm: The fourth point being debated is the definition of hazardous occupations. Right now, only three industries have been marked as hazardous — mines, inflammable substance and hazardous processes.
6:25 pm: The amendment Bill relaxed the penal provisions for parents or guardians, but penalises an employer from the first offence. Many times the guardian is the employer, says MPs.
6:20 pm: Dushyant Chautala claims parents do not send their children to school during harvest season. This Bill is actually promoting child labour, he says.
6:15 pm: Another contradiction being pointed out is definition of child. While the RTE Act 2009 and CLPRA 2012 define a child as 14-year-old, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act considers this to be 16 years. The RTE considers child as 18-years-old.
6:10 pm: Deputy Speaker Dr. Thambi Durai is in the chair. The lawmakers are divided over employing children in family business. The definition of family in the Bill includes extended family of uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. Parliamentarians fear this clause can be misued.
6:05 pm: Ravidra Kumar Rai, BJP MP from Jharkhand, says parents have the responsibility to take care of the children, and government cannot wholly take the responsibility. He says "some parents are giving birth to more kids." MPs object to his reference.
5:50 pm: Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, Dhubri MP, begins his speech with a shayari . He narrates how he managed to bring 100 per cent literacy in his constituency.
5:40 pm: Gopal Chinnayya Shetty, MP from Maharashtra, narrates his own story of how he started his life as a child labourer, learnt skills, became an entrepreneur and "now I am an MP," he says. Don't frame laws seeing the West. Our population is way more than them, our problems are much different, he says.
5:30 pm: Samajwadi MP Akshay Yadav suggests linking Aadhaar to RTE.
5:15 pm: Varun Gandhi, BJP MP, suggests parliamentary clearance to decide if an employment is hazardous or not, instead of government.
5:10 pm: Supriya Sule, NCP, questions what will happen to children between 14 and 18 years. Juvenile Justice Act says a child is 16 years, RTE says child upto 14 years. We need a clear definition for child. She says children in these age-groups are vulnerable, she says. Why is Labour Ministry taking up this Bill instead of HRW, she asks. She also questions about "child beggers", would you call them labourers as well, she asks.
5:05 pm: Renuka Butta, YSRCP, supports the Bill but wants to remove the clause that allows child labour in family business and entertainment. The intention of the government should be appreciated but much more needs to be done, she says.
5:00 pm: P.K. Biju, a CPI(M) hints at corporate nexus in the passage of the Bill. He claims the Bill will only help corporates for getting cheaper labour. He objects the Bill.
4:40 pm: TRS MP K. Kavitha speaks against the Bill. This Bill will bring female children to child labour, she says. " With this Bill you have opened the gates to keep their girl child at home," she says. Congress party blocked many Bills, but have allowed passing this one in Rajya Sabha, she says.
4:35 pm: Guntur MP Jayadev Galla supports the Bill. But suggests some minor amendments. He says the safety and health of the children should be taken care of. He praises including adolocents in the list.
4:30 pm: Vinayak Raut, in Lok Sabha, talks about child labourers. He wants to rework on the definition of family. All relatives can't be a family, he says.
4:24 pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day.
4:22 pm: Deputy Chairman allows special mentions to be laid on the Table amid slogan shoutings. "We want Voting" shout Congress Elders.
4:20 pm: Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Ready for a discussion on how to develop Andhra Pradesh, says Arun Jaitley. But Jairam Ramesh inists voting on a private member's Bill. Slogan shouting continues.
4:10 pm: A boy whose family sells tea, will also be selling tea and can never dream of becoming a prime minister, says Mr. Dea, making an obvious reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Deo suggests the Bill shuld be sent to a Select Committee.
4:00 p.m: Mr. Deo tears apart the exemption granted to children working under "family establishment." He warns how gravely the clause can be misused. Anyone can be called niece or nephew and can be employed, he says.
3.50 p.m.: Shiv Sena MP for Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Vinayak Raut, talks about what defines a family. He says it should be restricted to the immediate family - father, mother, children - and not bring relatives into the definition.
3.38 p.m.: BJD MP for Bolangir, Odisha, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo makes a speech in favour of rehabilitation and not punishment.
3.35 p.m.: The Lok Sabha takes up The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 for discussion.
3:31 pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned till 4 pm.
3:30 pm: MoS for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi criticises Congress.
3.20 p.m. : Uproar in Rajya Sabha as Congress presses for taking up of private member’s Bill for grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh
1 p.m.: Both Houses have been adjourned.
12.57 p.m.: We have used all resources to find the missing IAF plane, says Mr. Parrikar. "This is the safest aircraft in the Indian Air Force."
12.54 p.m.: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar says that the govt. does not agree with joint patrol, in response to a question. He also says that "we should respect an international court's decision," regarding the South China Sea verdict.
12.47 p.m.: The govt has taken into consideration the recommendations for the National Ambulance Code, says J.P. Nadda, Health Minister. DMK MP Kanimozhi asks about ambulances with advanced life support systems.
12.35 p.m.: A number of real estate projects approved by government of Chattisgarh over river Mahandi is severely affecting flow of water into Hirakund dam in Odisha, says Lok Sabha MP of BJP Bhartruhari Mahtab.
12.30 p.m.: Prem Chand Gupta, Jharkhand MP, asks multiple questions on Sports development, doping in sports. Sports Minister does not say much on doping. He says the athlete has been provinvcially suspended.
12.24 p.m.: BJP's Satyanarayan Jatiya's question is on Sports. Are we giving any special programmes for Olympic sports, so that we can win more medals? he asks. Sports Minister Vijay Goel says we have already started preparations for 2020 Olympics. We want to take sports to every village, every street, he says.
12.23 p.m.: Anand Bhakar Rapulu, a Telangana MP claims the micro-finance loans are being rebranded as MUDRA loans. MoS Gangawar rejects his claim and says if there are specific as the MP says, it will be looked into.
12.14 p.m.: Arun Jaitley answers a question on the change in the definition of OROP. "Revision takes place in a period of every five years."
12.07 p.m.: Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel brings up the issue of the autonomy od the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority and how the new avaiation policy has bypassed AERA. CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury asks if airports are collecting revenue from real estate in and around their premises.
11.56 a.m.: Dr. Subramanian Swamy speaks about his reading of the files on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. "I won't take any name, except Mahatma Gandhi. I won't take the name of any other Gandhi." Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha comes to an end.
11.49 a.m.: Madhusudan Mistry of Congress asks the government why it hasn't paid the declared compensation for the victims of Una violence. "Does the Gujarat govt. not have money or does it not want to pay?"
11.38 a.m.: Nominated MP Swapan Dasgupta wants authorities to use the Cinematography Act to determine film certification and censorship. "There is an arbitrariness between 89 cuts and one cut," he says, referring to the Udta Punjab controversy. "India's reputation as an open society needs to be sustained."
11.36 a.m.: There is a serious exchange of words regarding the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha polls. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition wants the polls annulled.
11.34 a.m.: T.K. Rangarajan of CPI(M) wants an overhaul of banking rules as regards education loans which have been turned over asset reconstruction companies. Speaker terms it a serious issue.
11.18 a.m.: Viplove Thakur of the Congress wants a ban on fairness creams and the ad agencies that promote them, as they promote "an inferiority complex among women."
11.12 a.m.: Kanimozhi and Jaya Bachchan raised the rape of a 4year old girl from a Delhi slum. They argue in Rajya Sabha that such cases are becoming a norm and the government should draft a strict child protection law to tackle this crisis.
Updates from this week:
Day 6: Lok Sabha > passes the IIT Bill , adjourned for the day.
Day 5: Outrage over Bhagwant Mann's video > derails Parliament for the day.
Day 4: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday > replied in the Rajya Sabha to the discussion on atrocities against Dalits
Day 3: >Discussion on the Kashmir situation took the lead.
Day 2: The Rajya Sabha > discussed the Calling Attention on situation arising due to floods in the country.
Day 1: Burhan Wani was a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist, > said Rajnath Singh.
(With inputs from Mehboob Jeelani)
