On the sixth day of the winter session of the Parliament, both Houses reconvened a day after the Lok Sabha passed the supplementary demands for grants.
The Rajya Sabha, though, saw a day of disruptions and ended up adjourned for the day on Thursday.
House adjourned till 11 a.m. on December 27, 2017.
BJP MP from Jharkand, Nishikant Dubey: India is a beautiful country. Apathy on population explosion, preference to male child, unscientific methods (to get male child) are reasons for growing population.
Due to population growth, urbanisation increases. We need to wait in Mumbai airport if we try to reach by evening, since the number of flights have increased.
There is no politician who doesn't want to help common man. Rural population and their development needs a lot of infrastructure. There is no policy for water conservation there.
Women and children suffer from malnutrition. Many have Vitamin D deficiency or are anaemic.
Aadhaar is not a guarantee for citizenship. It is a resident card. The government will make a national population register with Aadhaar and take steps against illegal immigrants.
The resolution is adopted.
Raghav Lakhanpal, a BJP MP from Saharanpur, moves for implementation of a stringent population control policy. He asks for the National Population Policy 2018.
Ravindra Kumar Rai of the BJP from Jharkand speaks next: "Children aren't anyone's offspring. They're God's gift. But there are some people who don't understand Indian tradition. Women are seen as machines for creating babies. There are many who make women pregnant with wrong intentions."
Mr. Singh continues his response detailing the government's preparedness for disasters. Hukm Deo Narayan Yadav is in the Chair.
Private Members' Business begins now. But Congress MPs raise slogans in protest and walk out when government refuses to release compensation for Ockhi victims.
A motion to move the Thirty-seventh report of the Committee on Private Members Bills and Resolutions is approved.
Next is a discussion on a resolution by BJP MP Gopal Chinayya Shetty on renovation of buildings located in the vicinity of various Defence establishments.
Defence MoS Subhash Bhamre responds that it was decided that the Armed Forces will carry out their assessment of establishments around their properties.
Jose K. Mani follows Mr. Premachandran's speech.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh rises to respond. Saugata Roy is in the Chair now.
"The Central government has spent Rs. 20 crore on a Doppler radar system that is supposed to give a warning. What happened to it?" asks Mr. Tharoor. He asks if India can partner with the U.S.' Typhoon Warning Centre.
Mohammed P.P. Faizal, the Lakshadweep MP rises to speak after Mr. Tharoor. He details the sequence of events from the warning to the day the cyclone hit. He says that whenever a cyclone happens, they need a shelter for boats.
Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav of the RJD speaks next. N.K. Premachandran of the RSP says that Ockhi should be considered a national calamity.
Mr. Roy asks why ISRO in Kerala did not warn the state.
Rammohan Kinjarapu of the TDP speaks next. He says that the month after October is not November, but "cyclone month."
A.P. Jithender Reddy of the TRS speaks now.
Shashi Tharoor of the Congress reads out various cyclone alerts and the times they were issued. "According to fisherfolk, when the Navy found a body floating, they said they could not take the body as there were no facilities on this ship."
P. Karunakaran of the CPI(M) begins his speech by paying homage to those who have lost their lives due to cyclone Ockhi.
He says 30,000 houses are partially damaged and 350,000 houses are fully damaged.
Next, BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel makes his speech in Kannada.
It's the Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy's turn to speak now. "On behalf of the people of West Bengal, I extend my sympathies and condolences to the families who have lost people. It shows how helpless man is against nature."
Mr. Hay also thanks Nirmala Sitharaman for consoling the fishermen.
Also read: Parliament being on and off not good for country, says Vice President Venkaiah Naidu
Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD rises to speak next. He says year after year, Odisha is affected by cyclone, drought or flood. "This year, another calamity that struck our farmers is pest attack. Two unseasonal rains have affected our state."
Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant says that "we are speaking of remedial measures, and not precautionary measures." He cites the Paris Agreement on precautionary measures.
Mr. Venugopal asks for a well-functioning monitoring system to avoid such disasters.
Arjun Charan Sethi is in the Chair. Richard Hay, a nominated Member from Kerala speaks next.
ANanth Kumar, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister answers. Mr. Hay says that disaster management in Kerala is defunct.
He thanks the Prime Minister for his visit.
Virendra Kumar, the Minister of State for Women and Child Development answers a question on the National Nutrition Mission.
Question Hour ends. Papers are laid on the table.
Submissions by Members for next week's list of business are being made.
Bills introduced:
- The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017 - The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, 2017 - The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill, 2017
What is rule 193?
This rule pertains to a short duration discussion.
"Any member desirous of raising discussion on a matter of urgent public importance may give notice in writing to the Secretary-General specifying clearlyand precisely the matter to be raised:
- Provided that the notice shall be accompanied byan explanatory note stating reasons for raising discussion on the matter in question
- Provided further that the notice shall be supported by the signatures of at least two other members.
Alappuzha Congress MP begins a short duration discussion on natural calamities across the country with special focus on cyclone Ockhi.
Lok Sabha | 11.30 a.m.
Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan answers a question about conservation of Irawaddy dolphins.
A BJP MP from Rajasthan, Dushyant Singh asks a question conservation of tigers. Mr. Harsh Vardhan says that the National Tiger Conservation Authority is working very well. "The NTCA's methods are being emulated by other countries too."
Prem Das Rai from Sikkim asks about protecting the Himalayas. The Minister says that there is a national programme in place.
The next question is on pay revision of nurses, followed by a question on infrastructure development. Arun Jaitley answers a demand from an Assam MP for funds for the state. "I think as far as roads and infrastructure is concerned, supporting Assam and Northeast is a top priority."
House reconvenes. Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu is in the Chair.
Statements by Ministers are laid on the table.
Vijay Goel makes a statement regarding government business for the week from December 27, 2017.
Zero Hour begins. But it is interrupted.
House is adjourned for the day.
House reconvenes. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is in the Chair.
Question Hour begins.
The first question is on National Health Accounts. Anandrao Adsul of the Shiv Sena says that unfortunately in health, "we are very weak." He asks why health expenditure is so low. Anupriya Patel, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare answers. "We have a commitment that we are going to raise our healthcare expenditure as a percentage of the GDP from the current 1.13 per cent to 2.5 per cent."
The next question is on conservation of endangered species.
