Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday informed the House that he had received the notice of privilege motion moved by the Congress against Social Justice Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot for his statement on the Supreme Court order on the issue of reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
“The issue is under my consideration,” Mr. Birla said after Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the matter in the House.
On Monday, the Congress accused Mr. Gehlot of ‘misleading’ the House by stating that the case pertained to a decision of the Uttarakhand government in 2012 when the Congress was in power.
The Minister had also informed that the Centre was not a party to the case and assured that ‘appropriate steps’ would be taken.
Stating that it was a misleading argument, Congress MPs not only moved a privilege motion but Mr. Chowdhury also read out the names of advocates who represented the BJP government Uttarakhand in the Supreme Court. However, the Speaker cut him by short stating that the motion is under his consideration.
Data protection panel
The Lok Sabha also elected two members — Mahua Moitra from the Trinamool Congress and Manish Tewari from the Congress — to the Joint Committee of two Houses on the Personal Data Protection Bill that proposes to set up a framework for handling personal data, including its processing by public and private entities.
DMK’s demand
DMK leader in the Lok Sabha T.R. Baalu demanded that the Centre withdraw all hydrocarbon projects in the Cauvery delta area in Tamil Nadu as it would impact farmers of the region.
“The matter is serious. I request the Agriculture Minister to prevail over the Oil Minister to withdraw all the projects,” Mr. Baalu said.
Published - February 11, 2020 02:13 pm IST
