Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice in the pre-noon session after the Opposition attacked the government over the hike in LPG prices. The lower House too witnessed protest and walk out on the same issue.
The upper House was adjourned once more after 12 noon as the Opposition protested an Election Commission (EC) notification that provided the MLAs the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option in the vote for the elections to the Upper House. Angry members of the Congress and other Opposition parties forced adjournments of the proceedings as they questioned the NOTA provision for these elections.
RS also raised a Calling attention Motion on the situation arising out of violation of conditions of Letter of Permit by foreign trawlers, and moved the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
Lok Sabha spent most of the day discussing the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 & Demands for Excess Grants (General) for 2014-15.
Here are the updates:
7:25 pm Both Houses adjourned for the day.
7:15 pm | Lok Sabha
He ends his arguments with comments on demonetisation. He reiterates the RBI is still counting the demonetised currency notes and it will be revealed in the House once RBI informs the Ministry.
The Supplementary Demands for Grants is passed by voice vote.
Demands for Excess Grants is also passed by voice vote.
7:10 pm | Lok Sabha
MPs raise their doubts. MP Premachandran asks how will the government ensure the input credit is passed on to the customers. Mr. Jaitley says it is a valid point. Automobiles have started passing the benefit, others will follow suit.
A Communist MP, Mohammad Salim, says he had South Indian meals and it mentions SGST and CGST but no mention on input credit. Mr. Jaitley jokes "you seem to have gone to an AC restaurant!" Earlier the taxes were part of the product. Some products were taxed multiple times. Now the taxation is transparent, he says. The MP does not seem to be happy with the answer.
7:00 pm | Lok Sabha
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says the GST has impact because till now we were tax non-compliant nation. Now, GST has brought more people under tax net. Though an indirect tax reform, it has brought many in direct tax net.
Food grain has been exempted completely to reduce food price. Earlier there was VAT or other taxes on them, says Mr. Jaitley.
The GST Council will meet once every month to review the progress, he says.
6:45 pm | Lok Sabha
Arun Jaitley is replying during debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants. He says the country has grown over 7% after demonetisation. He claims the exercise has curbed terrorfunding.
The stone pelters of Kashmir are disappearing because the militants don't have money to pay them, claims Mr. Jaitley. It is the same case with Naxalites too, he says.
On offshore money, Mr. Jaitley says HSBC, Panama papers, Liechtenstein, and ICIJ are being probed.
6:30 pm | Rajya Sabha
The House passes RTE amendments. House now takes up special mentions.
5.40 pm | Rajya Sabha
Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai asks if there will be sufficient time for those who enrolled into training programmes recently. "What will happen if they do not have time to complete their training by the cut-off date," he asks. He also speaks about teachers who are not made permanent in their jobs and about the dignity that teachers should be given but are not.
INC MP from Meghalaya Wansuk Syiem says there is still a lot to be done in terms of education and teaching.
5.00 pm | Rajya Sabha
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva reels out statistics on the learning outcomes of students. "Teacher-student ratios are disproportionate and there are about 9 lakh vacancies across the country. What are the steps the government is taking to fill up the vacancies," he asks.
He also brings up Derek O'Brien's earlier point about education being left in the hands of States.
INC MP Viplove Thakur speaks about the teacher-student ratio and the attention that an average primary school student needs from their teacher. She makes a case for English to be taught from primary school level in order for students from rural areas to take advantage of it. She also asks for re-orientation courses for trained and qualified teachers instead of "opening schools like mushrooms" all over the country.
This Act was brought seven years ago. So what have they been doing that they haven't been able to train teachers in seven years, asks BJP MP from Karnataka Dr. Prabhakar Kore.
JD(U) MP Kehkashan Parveen talks about constituting a district level committee to monitor performance of schools. She asks the government to work together to stop attrition levels of teachers in schools.
4.40 pm | Rajya Sabha
INC MP Rahman Khan speaks on the RTE Amendment Bill, but discloses first that he is affiliated to a private school. "The burden of educating a child from 6-14 has been shifted from parents to State. Today, it's the State's responsibility to provide quality education and to ensure that not a single child is left out," he says.
Mr. Khan says that it is the State's responsibility to survey children in the neighbourhood. "Only then they will know how many children will need to be educated."
4.20 pm | Lok Sabha
YSRCP MP V.R.Velagapalli asks for an increase in MPLADS funds from Rs. 5 crore per year to Rs. 10 crore. Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD) and Uday Pratap Singh (BJP) also ask for a hike in MPLADS funds. BJP MP Ramen Deka says a a plan to take care of excessive erosion and protect agricultural lands in Assam is necessary.
TRS MP Konda Vishweswar Reddy talks about the impact of GST in Telangana, with taxes being raised from 8% to 18%. "You talk about a short-term dip. We're concerned because we don't know how short this short-term is."
BJP MP P.C. Mohan pitches for lake development and regeneration and asks for funds to be released.
3.40 pm | Rajya Sabha
In the chair is INC MP Bhubaneswar Kalita.
SP MP from Uttar Pradesh Javed Ali Khan speaks about the RTE Amendment Bill.
AIADMK MP A.K. Selvaraj laments the learning outcomes in children. "Quality improvement will not happen unless teachers are trained."
He gives out statics on lack of toilets, lack safe drinking water and points out how there are still schools that are outside the distance prescribed by the RTE. But, he says, despite non-release of funds from the centre, Tamil Nadu has implemented RTE in 2015 and 2016.
TMC MP Derek O'Brien says they support the Bill and launches into a short introduction of the it. But says the Bill should have been brought in 2015 as it would have given the teachers more time. "Hope we don't have to come back here in 2019 to again bring an amendment. Or you could tell that to the State governments."
"Till 1976, education was a state subject. Only after that, it was put onto the concurrent list. So hope that the government viewing this as originally in the State list. Because the States sometime need to have independence in implementing RTE."
He touches on the "psychological problems" that stem from "putting boys and girls of various economic backgrounds together", and appeals for a discussion on this issue at a later date.
3.20 pm | Lok Sabha
LS is discussing the Supplementary demand for Grants and Demand for Excess Grants.
Odisha has actively participated in the deliberations of the GST council. But State's concern about calculation of compensation was not addressed, says RJD MP Bartruhari Mahtab. "There has been repeated denial of justice to Odisha. One instance is the rate of royalty of coal."
He points out that GST council has redirected the cess from coal-bearing states to the GST compensation fund all states.
He brings up the issue of chit funds. "It's a legal success in the southern states, but not so in Odisha."
3.10 pm | Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha moves the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The Bill extends the deadline for teachers to acquire the prescribed minimum qualifications for appointment. The amendment extends the time period for teachers to acquire minimum qualifications for four more years from March 31, 2015. The deadline will be Marhc 31, 2019.
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar says, "Three lakh teachers have been trained so far, one lakh is remaining. About seven lakh teachers from private schools are not within this ambit."
On the subject of untrained and unqualfied teachers, he says they are being given two years time. "Cannot remove all of them. We cannot deprive students," he says. He promises free education/training for the seven lakh unqualified/untrained teachers online or through Doordarshan. "You will not lose your jobs, but you will have to study," he says.
3.05 pm | Lok Sabha
TMC MP Sudip Bandhopadhyay: "GST, even today, small and medium industries are not happy with it. Neither is the Textile sector."
He points out that the eastern-regional states are suffering economic imbalances and asks for special economic packages for them.
2.50 pm | Rajya Sabha
"Clearly, there's something fishy going on here," says INC MP Rajeev Gowda about Letter of Permit violations. Points out that foreign vessels operate here through shell companies. "What is going on in terms of monitoring and documentations? These are fragile ecosystems. If you let foreign vessels deplete our fish stock, the economic impact will be huge."
"Is the govt monitoring properly and what will the damage to our ecology be? What steps is the govt taking to maintain buffer zones. What is the economic loss that can be estimated as a result of this," he asks the Radha Mohan Singh, of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.
Mr. Singh replies, saying, LOP vessels are being monitored effectively. In 2017, three Sri Lankan vessels and one Pakistani vessel were caught, as they LOP was not provided. Mr. Singh also quotes Meenakumari and Ayyappan committee reports on deep sea fishing.
2.30 pm | Lok Sabha
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey: I want to speak about Demand for Grants, but I need to counter Mr. Venugopal's points.
He points out the growth of world economy, Brexit and Europe's economy. "But India's economy is growing by 7%, according to IMF's report," he says.
He quotes more numbers. "Export growth is about 8.5%. India's Forex Reserve is 382 billion. Per capita income in 2014 was Rs. 74,000. Today is Rs.1,03,000."
He points to Supriya Sule's point about meat and dal made on Monday to talk about price stabilisation for pulses. Ms. Sule had said that if the government wants the population to not eat meat, they should provide dal.
2.15 pm| Lok Sabha
LS reconvenes, takes up the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 & Demands for Excess Grants (General) for 2014-15 for discussion and eventual voting.
In the chair is Deputy Speaker M. Thambi Durai.
INC MP from Alappuzha K.C. Venugopal brings up demonetisation, political murders in Kerala, LPG subsidy. Says, "Only poor people are being targetted. Rich people are always getting exceptions."
Brings up the 28% taxes on houseboats. "How will Kerala's tourism grow?"
"NRIs' parcels have been taxed 28% too. As you know, Kerala has a lot of people abroad. You said GST will not impact the common man. It is only impacting the common man!"
Ends his speech with an Abraham Lincoln quote. "You can fool all the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all the time but you can't fool all the people all the time," he says to loud thumps from MPs.
2.00 pm | Rajya Sabha
RS reconvenes, gets started on the day's list. Government withdraws The Participation of Workers in Management Bill, 1990.
RS takes up a Calling Attention Motion on violation of conditions of Letter of Permit by foreign vessels in the issue of deep sea fishing.
1.10 pm | Lok Sabha
Members give out their notices over TMC MPs sloganeering in the background. House adjourned for lunch till 2.15 pm.
12.40 pm | Lok Sabha
In the chair is BJP MP from Dharwad Prajhad Joshi. George Baker from West Bengal raises the issue of 'safai karmacharis' - manual scavengers. "I demand that you eliminate manual scavenging. This has been eliminated by Parliament. Ensure implementation of this and application of safe and modern methods," he says.
Mr. Joshi calls on Ms. Kirron Kher, who raises the issue of stalking in India. "4714 complaints of stalking in Delhi till 2014. Do we only notice when offence becomes fatal. Need to see stalking as a precedent to assault."
BJP MP Kirit Somaiya raises the issue of a scam, names several companies allegedly involved. Mentions that one of the companies has the Bengal CM's address as the registered address. TMC MPs protest against Mr. Somaiya. Chair asks the names of the companies be expunged.
MPs Rattan Lal Kataria, Ninong Ering, Naranbhai Kacchadiya and others deliver their notices over the din in LS.
12.20 pm | Rajya Sabha
RS reconvenes. MPs still on the topic of NOTA options, much to the exasperation of Chairman Hamid Ansari. "I cannot take this matter into consideration during Question Hour! If you want a discussion, please give notice of it," he says.
INC MP Anand Sharma says SC notice on NOTA option is unconstitution and illegal.
"This is designated as the Question Hour. Either we have it or we don't," says Mr. Ansari, over MPs arguing.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm.
12.10 pm | Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha discussing 'Matters of Urgent Public Importance'. So far discussed: availability of generic medicines, availability of surgical stents, railway catering, loss of agricultural land in Paradip,a new railway station in Rajasthan.
12.00 pm | Rajya Sabha
RS reconvenes. In the chair is Chairman of the House Hamid Ansari. INC MP Anand Sharma asks about the removal of NOTA option in elections. "Now is not the time to talk about this. The Question Hour is not for this," says Mr. Ansari.
Leader of House Arun Jaitley: The Supreme Court has allowed NOTA much before this government and the EC issued circular under article 324. If someone has an issue with the circular, they have other options. How is it connected to question hour?
But Mr. Sharma is insistent. "How can ECI remove NOTA option without coming to this House, amending laws," he asks.
"The correct position is that RS only notifies vacancy. Procedure comes under purview of EC. You've made your point, it will be examined," Mr. Ansari tells Mr. Sharma.
Derek O'Brien raises the issue of LPG subsidy again. SP MP Naresh Agarwal goes back to the NOTA issue. "Let's now get on with the Question Hour," pleads Mr. Ansari.
MPs all talk over each other. Mr. Ansari adjourns House for 10 minutes.
12.00 pm | Lok Sabha
MPs lay papers on the table. Zero Hour begins.
11.45 am | Lok Sabha
Question Hour proceeds smoothly in LS. Meenakshi Lekhi asks about an instance where a patient was given 'gaumutra'.
Original query was about the quality of dairy products. "From milk, you've gone to gaumutra," LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is amused. "Stick to the topic," she says.
Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge poses a questions about illegal immigrants. "How does the government plan to handle the large migration of these people from various migrant countries, and whether the govt is planning to collect accurate data on this."
MoS Kiren Rijiju: Impossible to maintain accurate data on the number illegal immigrants. But steps are being taken to ensure they are found out and deported.
11.38 am | Rajya Sabha
RS reconvenes. Chair says that all mention of Hon'ble Speaker at the beginning of ZeroHour will be expunged.
"This (price hike) is not acceptable," says Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad. MPs are troop into the well again, shouting. "Listen to the minister," Mr. Kurien says. MoS Dharmendra Pradhan tries to respond, no one can hear him over the din. "Why don't you listen to the minister," asks Mr. Kurien.
Sloganeering begins again. House adjourned till 12 noon.
11.00 am | Rajya Sabha
TMC MP Derek O'Brien takes up the issue of LPG price hike. The Centre, on Monday, had ordered State-run oil companies to raise the price of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) by Rs. 4 a cylinder every month to eliminate all subsidies by March next year.
"The government is not keeping up to its promise," says Mr. O'Brien. CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury says this would burden the people. Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien says the Lok Sabha was informed.
What about the Rajya Sabha, asks Mr. Yechury and sloganeering ensues.
"Bandh karo, bandh karo, gareebo ka lootna bandh karo (Stop the looting of the poor)," MPs troop into the well of the House.
"What am I do with you all?," Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien asks despondently. House adjourned for 10 minutes.
11.00 am | Lok Sabha
Question Hour begins. The first discussion is on Aadhaar-based fertiliser distribution systems. Asaduddin Owaisi sets off the proceedings.
Following is today’s legislative business for the two Houses of Parliament:
Lok Sabha:
Discussion and voting on Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017—18 & Demands for Excess Grants (General) for 2014—15.
Bills for consideration and passing:
The Banking Reguation (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017
The Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill, 2017
Rajya Sabha:
Calling attention on the situation arising out of violation of conditions of Letter of Permit by foreign trawlers in deep sea fishing in Indian seas and the action taken by the Government on it.
Bill for withdrawal:
The Participation of Workers in Management Bill, 1990.
Bills for consideration and passing:
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
