In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition protests loomed over the proceedings for a third day as Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu began the day urging the House to reach a solution. The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 was later passed in Rajya Sabha after a day's discussion. The House rejected the amendment for sending The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 to select committee.
Discussion on different aspects of COVID-19 took precedence in the lower house of the parliament on December 02, 2021.
Here are the updates:
Lok Sabha adjourned till Monday
The chair, Rajendra Agrawal, adjourns the session till Monday 11 a.m.
Most productive day in Lok Sabha history
On December 2, the House registered productivity of 204% which made it the most productive day in history of the Lok Sabha. In over 11 hrs 3 mins,96 MPs participated in discussion under Rule 193 on COVID-19 pandemic. - Twitter/@LokSabhaSectt
Rajya Sabha adjourned till Monday.
The chair adjourns the session till Monday 11 a.m.
Private Members' Business
Private Members' Business going on in the Lok Sabha. Various bills, including The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced.
Mandaviya replies to the COVID-19 situation in the country
While responding to the discussion on COVID-19 under Rule 193 in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Mandaviya said "The adult population in the country is 94 crores. 79 crores have got the first dose of COVID-19, 46 crores have got both the doses"
Mr. Mandaviya said "decisions on booster dose and vaccination of kids after scientific advise, asks Opposition parties to trust scientists."
He added that "16000 passengers from 'at-risk' countries tested for COVID-19 and 18 found positive; genome sequencing for Omicron underway."
TRS MPs stage walk out in Rajya Sabha over parboiled rice procurement
Four MPs of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) led by K Keshava Rao staged a walk out from Rajya Sabha as they were not satisfied with reply of Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal on their demand on government's assurance to procure parboiled rice from Telangana this Rabi season.
Earlier in the morning session, three TRS members had also trooped into the Well of the House over issues related to farm sector of states. But later they returned to their seats after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked them to go back to their seats.
Later during the question hour, asking a supplementary, Mr. Rao had asked Goyal that whether central government plans to procure entire rice irrespective of type from Telangana. -- PTI
Why CSR was introduced, asks Jairam Ramesh
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said he largely agrees with Mr. Sahasrabuddhe, but he has missed the reason why CSR was introduced. The idea of CSR was to benefit local communities, he said.
Mr. Ramesh added that "This should be a guideline, not a blanket law."
The Congress leader said that "this government has appointed a chairman of the National Monuments Authority who does not have required qualifications. It has become a National Political Monuments Authority."
Mr. Ramesh added that "This government has appointed a chairman of the National Monuments Authority who does not have required qualifications. It has become a National Political Monuments Authority." V Vijaisai Reddy supported the Bill
RS discusses Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019 being discussed now. This Bill proposes to use 25% of CSR funding for maintenance of historic monuments, said Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. Mr. Sahasrabuddhe said that the ASI, National Monuments Authority and other such agencies do not have the resources to maintain monuments.
Lok Sabha discusses COVID-19 pandemic
Lok Sabha further discusses the COVID-19 pandemic and various aspects related to it. Mr. Mandaviya speaks in the House.
Alphonse introduces Bill to amend Preamble of Constitution
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva introduced a Bill to give women reservation in employment
BJP MP KJ Alphonse introduced Bill to amend the Preamble of the Constitution. RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha objected to it, Deputy Chairman says the House will decide.
Amendment to Preamble is an attack on the very edifice of the Constitution, said Manoj Jha.
Deputy Chairman said "This Bill doesn’t require the President’s prior consent. The House will decide."
KTS Tulsi introduced a Bill to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to prescribe a limit of 3 months to decide complaints against members of legislatures under the anti-defection law.
Lok Sabha resume proceedings
Dr. Rajdeep Roy, MP laid on the table the 130th to 132nd action taken Reports of Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in the Lok Sabha.
Rajya Sabha proceedings resume
Rajya Sabha resumes. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lays the supplementary demand for grants on the table.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh starts calling on members to introduce their private members Bills.
YSRCP MP V Vijaisai Reddy introduces Bill to increase punishment for desecration of religious sites from two years to 20 years, says it will be against “temple destruction parties, TDP”
Stop politics on oxygen shortage, take note of efforts to hike production: Mandaviya
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday asked the opposition parties to "stop playing politics" over oxygen shortage during the second wave of COVID-19 infections and take note of the Centre's efforts to ramp production of the life-saving gas to meet the surge in demand.
Addressing the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour, he said the Union government made "all possible efforts" to ensure the availability of oxygen and increased its production following a rise in demand during the second wave of the pandemic.
"Sadly, even in such a situation, many people did not refrain from playing politics... I appeal, take note of our honest efforts. This is not a subject of politics," he said in reply to a question on the issue raised by Congress MP Suresh Dhanorkar.
Mandaviya also hit out at the opposition over claims about deaths due to oxygen shortage during that period, saying the Centre sought from states data on the matter and only the Punjab government replied that there were four suspected cases of such deaths and a probe into them was underway.
"I want to say that Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had said at the chief ministers' meeting that there was no need to hide the number of deaths due to shortage of oxygen shortage. It (numbers) should be reported," the Union Health Minister said. -- PTI
Lok Sabha adjourned till 2:30 pm
The Chair adjourns the session till 2:30 pm.
Matters of public importance being discussed
Railways, Water and sanitation, roads, transport, paddy procurement are some of the issues being discussed.
Pradyut Bordoloi, Nawgong (Assam) MP says that the govt. should take notice of climate change. He says that River Brahmaputra in Assam is severely affected because of climate change, and this has further endangered the ecosystem dependent on the river. Calling them climate refugees, he says that Indian laws have failed to recognise the plight of these refugees, and urges the govt. to bring a law to rehabilitate the refugees.
Pratima Mondal, Jaynagar (West Bengal) MP, says that India has further gone down on the Global Hunger Index, and says that the govt. should ensure that real development of the country happens instead of making baseless accusations against State governments.
Jayant Sinha, Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) MP appeals to the govt. to ensure clean water is supplied to rural households in his State under the Jal Jeevan program.
Prabitha Singh, Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) MP, appeals to the govt. to expand the airports in Himachal Pradesh to increase tourism, and to better assist the locals of the State.
Government seeks Parliament nod for Rs. 3.73 lakh crore additional spending this fiscal
The government on Friday sought Parliament's nod for gross additional spending of over Rs 3.73 lakh crore in the current financial year.
As per the second batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled in Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, the net cash outgo would be over Rs 2.99 lakh crore and Rs 74,517 crore extra expenditure would be matched by savings by different ministries.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2:30 pm
Question Hour is over. Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2:30 pm.
Question Hour in Rajya Sabha
The House is currently hearing questions regarding the procurement of rice, specifically Parboiled Rice from the States of Telangana and Odisha.
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Piyush Goyal says that the State has not fulfiled the complete provision of current stock promised to the Central pool.
"They are jumping into the future, without supplying what has already been agreed," he says.
"Over Rs. 1.60 lakh crores have been deposited in the accounts of around 11.5 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. W are in touch with the regional governments to ensure that the scheme is not misused," Narendra Singh Tomar replies, to a question on farmers benefiting from the Kisan scheme.
K.J. Alphons asks a question on the manufacturing of semiconductors in the country. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and IT responds, "Semiconductor industry is a very complex industry. It is highly capital intensive industry...yes we definitely need to do a lot more." Mr. Vaishnaw informs the House that the Government has had detailed discussions with all stakeholders of the industry. He hopes this will lead to "some very good results."
Zero Hour begins in Lok Sabha
After the introduction of two Bills, the Speaker begins the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha. Rajendra Agrawal assumes the Chair. Matters of Urgent Public Importance are being discussed.
The Second Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2021-22 are being presented.
The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2011 is introduced in Lok Sabha
Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, Prime Minister's Office, introduces the Bill.
Opposition opposes the introduction of The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2011
Sougata Ray, Dum Dum (West Bengal) MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Baharampur (West Bengal) MP, oppose the introduction of the Bill saying the union govt. is misusing the central investigation agencies.
Mr. Chowdhury says that the govt. has rendered the police, and the investigation departments teethless.
The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is introduced
Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, Prime Minister's Office says that the clause has been misinterpreted, and the Opposition doesn't understand what the law in actual entails. "I wish that you go through the contents, and give it a fair thought before opposing it altogether. We will talk about the Bill in the discussion, this is just an introduction," he says.
Dr. Singh further says that the Opposition does not have patience to listen to the House.
Opposition opposes the introduction of the Bill.
Opposition MPs oppose the introduction of The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021
Suresh Kodikunnil, Mavelikkara (Kerala) MP, Sougata Ray, Dum Dum (West Bengal) MP oppose introduction of The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Shashi Tharoor, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) MP, says that this Bill has been brought in by the Ordinance rules, which is against the law. He says that the extension of tenure should be granted only under rare circumstances but introduction of the Bill will make it a norm. He further says that he opposes the bill.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Baharampur (West Bengal) MP, also opposes the Bill saying it gives the govt. a free will to extend the tenure whenever it deems necessary, and he calls this undemocratic.
N.K. Premachandran, Kollam (Kerala) MP also opposes the Bill, asking what is the reason to extend any officer's tenure. He says that the Bill lacks a bonafide intention. He says the intention involved is to protect the officer who is in good terms with the govt.
In response to a question on what efforts governement has made to ensure Electric Vehicle penetration in rural areas Mahendra Nath Pandey says, "Priority as of now has been placed on highways, express highways and highly populated urban cities, where problem of pollution is more, after that it will expand to rural and other areas of the country, arrangements have been made."
ARAI-Pune has been roped in to work on the issue of fast charging (of electric vehicles) and they have prepared a proto, and by December 2022 we aim to release it in the market, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Heavy Industries, informs the House in response to a question regarding the Government solution to the problem of Electric Vehicles taking a lot of time to charge.
Question Hour ends in Lok Sabha
The Speaker ends the Question Hour. The Opposition accuses the BJP of protesting near the Mahatma Gandhi Statue outside the Parliament when the Opposition was already there protesting, to which the BJP MPs respond that even they have a right to protest.
On civil service examinations
During Special Mention, Fauzia Khan (NCP), member from Maharashtra raises the subject of providing two year relaxation to students age-barred in 2020. "Civil Services candidates were severely impacted...who have missed out on opportunity to give exam due to extraordinary circumstances"
Urges government to give relaxation to students age-barred in 2020 and give two additional attempts to those whose attempts were exhausted in 2020.
On COVID-19 deaths
Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, says that States should not refrain from providing proper data on COVID-19 deaths. "We have repeatedly appealed to the States to provide data, and 19 States responded. But, it's not our fault if all the States don't comply," he says.
"States respond to their respective HCs that there are no deaths, but they question the central govt. on the number of deaths in the country.
"We have also asked States to be prepared for further COVID-19 waves."
'Youngsters are addicted to online gaming'
Sushil Kumar Modi (BJP), member from Bihar, raises the issue of Online Gaming. "Booming Online Gaming has become a big problem for youngsters in the country," who he says have become addicted to the same.
Weekly time spent on mobile gaming was 2.5 hours (pre-covid), during lockdown it has increased to 4 hours. More than 43 crore users are on online gaming, claims Mr. Modi
"Urge the government to make a comprehensive framework of regulation for Online Gaming," he says.
Mr. Naidu agrees that it's a big menace.
On crimes against women
Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development, to a question of rising crimes against women in Rajasthan, says that the ministry will ensure that proper data is mapped, and information is collected in the regard.
She further says that free legal aid system is set up through NALSA (National Legal Services Authority), and help desks have been set up in police stations across all States through the Nirbhaya Fund so that quick justice is ensured.
The Speaker lashes out against the Opposition for protesting when the issue of crimes against women are being discussed.
Rakesh Sinha of BJP during Zero Hour speaks in Hindi on the contributions of printed publications during Freedom Movement. Appeals that important role of writers, journalists, publications be included during the celebrations of Amrit Mahotsav.
On the situation of Law and Justice
Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Law and Justice says, to a question, that in order to introduce an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, the NITI Aayog has taken steps, and a committee is also formed, headed by a former SC Judge, and the Ministry is taking pro-active steps to make sure a proper justice redressal mechanism is introduced in the country.
He further says that effective steps are being taken to spread legal awareness in the country. There is a digital campaign going on to strengthen the legal justice system, he adds. He requests paralegal volunteers to get involved in the process.
"We are trying to create awareness across the country to strengthen the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) system," he says.
"We have settled a lot of cases in the courts during the pandemic," he adds.
'No language imposition'
"All languages of India should be respected, promoted and encouraged. No impostion, no opposition to any language in India," Mr. Naidu says after Vaiko (MDMK) from Tamil Nadu raised the issue of Central Government naming schemes and programmes in Hindi.
“The recent attempt to ignore the valor of those who fought against the imperial British in Kerala has caused great resentment in the society,” says Abdul Wahab (IUML), urging the Government to reinstate the names of martyrs in their publication of dictionary of martyrs.
Opposition creates ruckus in Rajya Sabha
Opposition creates ruckus, however, the Chair reiterates that nothing should be recorded.
“I suggest to leaders of the House, and the Opposition, to sit together, discuss and find a way out for smooth functioning of the house” Mr. Naidu says.
Amid a stalemate over the suspension of 12 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal on Friday said how can there be a reconciliation when these members are unwilling to apologise for their unruly behaviour in the previous session. The issue came up in the House when RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha said in the Rajya Sabha that some BJP members "gatecrashed" the site in Parliament complex where the 12 suspended members were staging an agitation (PTI).
V. Muraleedharan, MoS Parliamentary Affairs presents statement regarding Government Business for the week commencing Monday, December 6 2021.
Question Hour begins in Lok Sabha
With the Opposition protesting in Lok Sabha, the Question Hour begins. To a question, the Minister of State for AYUSH Ministry responds that the govt. is working towards increasing the purview of treatment provided to people under the Ministry.
He further says that there is a Yoga Certification Board that certifies yoga practitioners to cut down on counterfeit practitioners.
Shashi Tharoor, Thiruvananthapuram MP, says that a research university for Ayurveda is extremely necessary to promote the study of Ayurveda. To this, Sarbananda Sonowal, Ministry of AYUSH replies that if a proposal is presented before the govt., the feasibility of establishing a Ayurveda university in Kerala will be examined.
Parliament proceedings commence
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha commence proceedings for Day 5 of the Winter Session.
Ministers and Parliamentary Standing Committees lay papers and reports in Rajya Sabha.
Competitive sloganeering outside Parliament
Parliament premises witnessed competitive sloganeering when a few BJP MPs entered the venue where opposition members were protesting against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha members.
Seeking a revocation of the suspension, opposition parties have been protesting outside the Parliament near the Gandhi statue. A few BJP members including G.V.L. Narasimha Rao and K.J. Alphons entered the venue with their own placards, which showed photos of ruckus happened in the Upper House during the Monsoon Session.
While the BJP MPs raised slogans in support of the suspension and sought an apology, the opposition members accused the government of being selective in suspending members. Both sides indulged in competitive slogan shouting.
When the BJP MPs were outnumbered, they hastily retreated.
Legislative Business for December 3, 2021 is as follows:
Lok Sabha:
Papers to be laid on the table, followed by Question Hour.
Supplementary demands for Grants, 2021-22
The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to be introduced.
The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2011 to be introduced.
The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to be introduced.
Further discussions on COVID-19.
Private Members' Business
Rajya Sabha:
Papers to be laid on the table.
Supplementary demands for Grants, 2021-22
Private Members' Business
Day 4 recap
The Rajya Sabha passed the Dam Safety Bill, 2019 on Thursday after a four-hour discussion. This is one of the first legislation to be passed this week as the Upper House has witnessed vociferous protests and disruption from the Opposition over the suspension of 12 members.
Lok Sabha held discussions on COVID-19. Amidst continuous sloganeering by the opposition, Speaker Om Birla opened the floor for discussion under Rule 193—a matter of urgent public importance— acknowledging that in the wake of the new Omicron variant, a “positive and responsible” discourse was the need of the hour.
