The much anticipated The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, also known as the triple talaq bill was taken up for debate in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The bill has already been passed by Lok Sabha.
While the Opposition wanted to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, the ruling party wanted the Bill to be taken for consideration as is. Heated exchange of words from both sides forced the House to be adjourned for the day.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned till noon, and later till 2 pm, after opposition MPs raised the tense situation in Maharashtra over the Bhima-Koregaon clashes. Lok Sabha too highlighted the issue during Zero Hour after the Speaker didn't allow adjournment and privilege motions brought by the members.
List of Bills for consideration today:
Lok Sabha
The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
Rajya Sabha
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017.
The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017.
Live updates
So the Bill should go to Select Committee or not? Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad suggests we should take the division. Ruling party members object to it. The BJP does not enjoy majority in the Upper House.
"If the majority's view is not heard in this House, where will it be heard?" Mr. Azad says.
The Chair says both amendments are valid. No end to disruptions. House adjourned for the day.
The Chair intervenes. Asks members to calm down. "He is the Leader of the House. I have allowed him to speak. I will allow others to speak as well and then I will give the give my ruling," he says.
Mr. Jaitley says the Supreme Court Bench declared instant divorce unconstitutional for six months. The deadline ends in February 22, 2018. We brought the Bill to make it permanent, he says.
Derek O'Brein says we want the Bill, but it is faulty.
Leader of the House Arun Jaitley points conflict in the Rule. The Bill has not been referred from the other House. So the motions cannot be taken up, he says. The motion has to be given at least 24 hours in advance. "What is the kind of parliamentary practice your are picking up?" he asks.
This practice of instant divorce, Mr. Jaitley begins but is stopped as all Opposition members object to him speaking.
"This practice of instant divorce has been declared unconstitutional..." Mr. Jaitley continues but is stopped again.
"The whole country is watching that in the other House you supported the Bill and in this House you are opposing it," he says pointing at Congress members.
Mr. Ravishankar Prasad continues his speech. Triple talaq is continuing despite the Supreme Court banning it. This Bill is necessary. I appeal the Congress to support the Bill, he says amid disruptions by opposition MPs.
Anand Sharma moves the motion once again. The House respects the dignity of women but the Bill needs further consideration, he says.
Sukendu Shankar Roy also moves a motion.
Law Minister Mr. Prasad says the Bill was necessitated after Supreme Court directed the government to frame a law to make talaq-e-biddat illegal. If this Bill is sent to Select Committee now, it will take another six months for it to be passed. We have to consider the plea of several Muslim women, he says.
Heated arguments between ruling party and opposition members over the House Rules. Opposition MPs object to Law Minister intervening the discussion. Mr. Kurien, who is in the Chair, says a minister can intervene.
Rajya Sabha takes up the triple talaq Bill. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law Minister, moves the Bill. Opposition MPs want to send the Bill to Select Committee.
Anand Sharma moves a motion to send the Bill to a Select Committee amid ruckus. The Tresury Bench objects to it.
Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Congress MPs raise the issue again. Satish Chandra Misra of BSP during the Calling Attention Motion seeks discussion on the Maharashtra clashes. Deputy Chierman P.J. Kurien says he cannot allow a discussion as the Chairman refused one in the morning itself.
Opposition MPs continue to protest. They raise slogans. House adjourned till 3 pm.
Now, members from Treasury Bench oppose to Mr. Banerjee's comments. Mr. Banerjee gets support from Opposition.
Several BJP MPs raise in support of Ministers. Speaker adjourns the House for the day.
As Lok Sabha discusses the Bill, here is a recap.
During the Monsoon Session, the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, providing for the setting up of a National Commission for Backward Classes, was passed after dropping Clause 3, to which four amendments was approved by the House earlier.
The dropped clause pertains to the insertion of a new article 338B about the constitution and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes.
The Bill has now come up in Lok Sabha for its fresh approval. The Centre is not ready to accept the amendments passed by the Rajya Sabha. So this bill effectively aims to amend an amended Bill.
Ganesh Singh of the BJP rises to support the Bill stating that Scheduled Castes and Tribes have their own Commissions to represent them and backward classes need such representation too.
Kalyan Banerjee (Trinamool) says the original amendment was to grant constitutional status to OBC Commission. The recommendations were made in the Sachar Committee itself. This government cannot take claim to the passage of this bill.
Thaawar Chand Gehlot, the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, rises to move that The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third) Amendment Bill, 2017 be introduced.
This Bill seeks to grant the National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status, at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. As of now, the NCSC looks into complaints and welfare measures of Scheduled Castes, Anglo-Indians and backward classes. This Bill seeks to remove the power to examine matters related to backward classes.
This Bill, though it has been passed by the Lok Sabha, was significantly amended in the Rajya Sabha, leading to its re-introduction now.
Rajeev Satav of the Congress asks why women haven't been given reservation yet.
Lok Sabha reconvenes. Congress MPs raise the issue again. Mr. Kharge insists the Prime Minister should respond.
Speaker wants to take up bill for consideration. Mr. Premachandran raises Point of Order. For the first time an amendment is being brought in to amend the amendments passed by Rajya Sabha. What is the necessity for bringing such a Bill? he asks. He is being interrupted by Congress MPs who want to talks about Maharashtra violence.
Speaker goes ahead with the proceedings. She overrules the Point of Order.
Saugata Roy (Trinamool) also raises the issue of Bhima-Koregaon clashes. Any clash is condemnable. The Maharashtra government failed completely in preventing the clash and the violence.
Shivaji Patil of Shiv Sena says this clash is wrongly being projected as a Maratha versus Dalit clash.
Raosaheb Dhanve of BJP representing Jalna says these clashes are orchestrated to prevent highlighting the development in the State.
Zero Hour ends. Lok Sabha adjourned till 12:45 pm.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar accuses Mr. Kharge of politicising the issue. Congress is facing failure in every state, so it is flaring up this issue. Congress is applying divide and rule policy in the country, he says.
Congress MPs shout slogans against atrocities on Dalits.
Mallikarjun Kharge raises the issue of Bhima-Koregaon clashes in Lok Sabha during Zero Hour. Dalits are often being targetted in the country he says, citing examples of Maharashtra and Rohith Vemula.
Malliarjun Kharge speaking in Lok Sabha.
Whenever Dalits want to live a life with self-respect, certain people are trying to curb it. The same has happened in Bhima-Koregaon now. Every year Dalits pay tribute at the memorial. Such an incident never happened all while. Who instigated this violence now? he asks.
Dalits were not part of armies because they were not allowed to use weapons. This memorial is significant because this was historically recorded, he says.
Mr. Kharge blames RSS-affiliated outfits for the clashes. Mr. Kharge demands an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge. He also demands the Prime Minister to make a statement. He is mum whenever atrocities against Dalits are highlighted.
Lok Sabha proceeds with Zero Hour. Before commencing the Zero Hour the Speaker says though we are representing a region in this House, we are here to represent the country in large. I request everyone to keep the entire nation in mind when raising issues here, she says.
Mulayam Singh Yadav raises the issue of Pulwama attack. Our jawans are being killed in the border. Pakistan and China are waging proxy wars. Our soldiers have to be well-equipped to tackle such situations, he says citing the recent fidayeen attack in Pulwama CRPF base.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm.
Question Hour ends in Lok Sabha. Ministers are now laying papers pertaining to their ministries.
A member asks if the government has plans to tackle job loss due to automation. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad says automation is generating lobs too. We are setting up BPOs in smaller cities such as Tiruchi, Patna and even in Kashmir, he says.
Shashi Tharoor asks what purpose is being served by trying to make Hindi an official language in United Nation. "I understand the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister can speak in Hindi but what if a future External Affairs Minister comes from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, who couldn't speak in the language," he asks.
Ms. Swaraj says Hindi is being spoken in several other countries other than India and Indians settled abroad are speaking in Hindi.
Sushma Swaraj speaking in Parliament on Wednesday.
An MP wants to know if the government has taken any steps to make Hindi the official language of UN. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj says the process requires voting passed with two-third majority and the countries using Hindi should share the expenditure incurred in making the language an official language. "We are ready to spend. But smaller countries such as Mauritius won't be able to pay. We are negotiating with them," she says.
Several MPs ask about flexi-fare system. Hoogly MP says the scheme has to scrapped. Mr. Goyal says the felxi-fare will never be deployed in the second class. It is used only in AC and First class coaches, he says.
Tackling fog, the railways way
Power and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Anju Bala, Uttar Pradesh MP, asks if the Railway Ministry plans to do something to prevent delay in running trains due to fog. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal says several trains in northern India have been installed with fog-protected system. Trains are reaching on time compared to flights.
We are also working on revamping signalling system with latest technology so that it is visible even during foggy weather, he says.
Why can't you sell tickets in lieu of capacity of general class or why can't you increase the number of coaches in general class, she asks. We are not giving additional tickets in reserved coaches. In case of unreserved coaches, we have to increase the infrastructure to tackle the issue, he says.
Defence Ministry for developing light-weight bullet proof jackets
Next set of questions are on bullet proof bunkers. MoS Defence Subhash Bhamre is answering questions.
Rajeev Satav, Congress member, wants to know if the government plans to develop bullet proof bunkers and asks about project Dhruv. Four universities have given us proposals to develop such bunkers. We are working on it.
He asks a supplementary question. He wants to know if bullet proof jackets are procured in a time-bound manner. Amrita University has come up with a proposal to develop light-weight bullet proof jackets. It will be developed within six months. We have procured 50,000 India-made bullet-proof jacklets. More will be procured soon.
An MP wants to know if the government plans to "save" coal for the future generations. Power Minister Piyush Goyal says the ministry is working on new coal discovery and emphasis is given on alternative fuel as well.
Not convinced: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad speaks in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. PTI/ TV GRAB
Congress MPs raise the issue of Dalits and right-wing outfits clashes in Maharashtra. The Chairman adjourns the house to meet at 12 noon again.
Dalit outfits have called for a bandh today to protest the clashes at the bicentenary celebrations of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, which is being supported by Maratha groups and Left parties.
Members are asking questions pertaining to new coal allocation policy. Minister Piyush Goyal is answering. Karnataka MP K.C. Muniyappa is asking when will the ministry allocate adequate coal to his State. The State minister has not discussed this issue with me yet, says Mr. Goyal.
I had allocated two mines from Maharashtra to Karnataka. They were unable to manage this, he says. Mr. Muniyappa objects.
Both Houses of Parliament convene. In Rajya Sabha members are laying on table standing committee reports on various subjects.
In Lok Sabha question hour begins.
