Parliament proceedings updates: Lok Sabha passes the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill

November 20, 2019 11:13 am | Updated December 04, 2021 11:52 pm IST

Lok Sabha passes the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill . With the amendments, the prescribed ceiling of aggregate chit fund amount for individuals would be raised to ₹3 lakh from ₹1 lakh. The Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur.

Here are the live updates:

Lok Sabha | 7.15 p.m.

Lok Sabha is adjourned for the day.

Lok Sabha | 6.10 p.m.

Lok Sabha passes the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

Zero hour commences.

Rajya Sabha | 6.00 p.m.

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11.00 a.m., November 21, 2019.

Rajya Sabha | 6.00 p.m.

Venkaiah Naidu takes the Chair.

Karnataka MP Dr. Lankappa Hanumanthaiah of the INC, says that the Bill is not at par with the contemporary global discourse on trangender rights, sexual orientation and gender identity. He says that the category 'other' for transgenders is not inclusive. Only in the 2011 census they were recognised as the 'third gender'.

Lok Sabha | 5.30 p.m.

Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs says that the government plans to set up an online database for chit funds under the Chit Funds Bill to safeguard the subscribers's money.

Responding to Amar Singh's argument for the need of formal financial systems for thepoor, Mr. Thakur says that under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana a large chunk of the population has been integrated into the banking system. He also mentions the growth of UPI payments, digital transactions and RuPay debit cards under the BJP government.

 

Rajya Sabha | 5.00 p.m.

Jaya Bachchan (Samajwadi Party), from Uttar Pradesh, says that it is humiliating for the transgender community to have to prove their identity for obtaining a certificate. This in itself is segregation. The Bill has not addressed many technicalities like this and needs to be dealt with sensitively, she says.

Odisha MP Sasmit Patra of the Biju Janata Dal, agrees with Mrs. Bachchan and adds that in addition to a National Council for Transgenders, there should be State Councils too as many people from the community do not have the resources to approach the council at a national level.

He also says that the Code of Criminal Procedure is only discussed in terms of 'man' and 'woman'. Transgenders and their legal definition needs to be included in the code, he says.

 

Lok Sabha  | 5.00 p.m.

Amar Singh (INC) from Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab says that there is a need to absorb the poorer sections of the society and local chit funds into the organised banking system. This requires a high level of transparency and formalisation. The proposed Chit Funds Bill misses out on these provisions, he says.

Congress Leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from Berhampore, West Bengal, says that we do not have any dearth of legislations. But fraudulent elements continue to deceive the poor and less privileged with impunity. The Bill should provide a robust system for punishment, he says.  

Rajya Sabha | 4.30 p.m.

BJP MP from Rajasthan Ram Kumar Verma is speaking about the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. He says that the Bill is comprehensive and urges the Parliament to pass it without further delay.

Lok Sabha | 4.30 p.m.

Ajay Bhatt of the BJP, from Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, extends his support for the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill and says that the proposed changes will bring in more transparency and accountability.

Lok Sabha | 3.30 p.m.

The Lok Sabha is discussing the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill.

Rajya Sabha | 2.30 p.m.

Dr. Amee Yajnik (INC) asks what is in place to safeguard the rights of the woman who undergoes surrogacy and the child who is born. She also says that the term "close relative" is not defined in the Bill.

If infertility is discovered by the couple, why should they wait for five years, she asks. And then they need two certificates, she says. In this setup, if we have to rush to authorities, it has be made simple. How are you going to cross-check how many pregnancies a woman has undergone, asks Dr. Yajnik.

TDP supports the Bill.

Lok Sabha | 2 p.m.

Zero Hour continues in Lok Sabha. N.K. Premachandran is in the Chair.

Rajya Sabha | 2 p.m.

V. Vijaysai Reddy (YSR Congress) begins to speak on the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill. He supports the Bill, because it legalises altruistic surrogacy.

Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) says that the morality and ethics of surrogacy must be jettisoned, and the medical requirements should come first. What about same sex couples? it does not talk about that. Live-in relationships? This Bill looks only at married couples.

Sushil Kumar Gupta (AAP) says that live-in relationships are not being considered for this Bill.

Vikas Mahatme (BJP) says he supports the Bill.

Lok Sabha | 1 p.m.

Thamizhachi Thangapandian says that there is no hospital facility with trauma department in ECR, Chennai.

House is adjourned till 2.30 p.m.

Rajya Sabha | 1 p.m.

Mr. Shah then rises to speak. He says he has facts about the situation in Kashmir.

House stands adjourned till 2 p.m.

Rajya Sabha | 12.45 p.m.

Hardeep Singh Puri says that Raipur Airport is not a private Airport, in response to Jairam Ramesh who said it was.

Syed Nasir Hussain (INC) asks about the Home Minister's statement that all people belonging to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are welcome. Amit Shah says that he is confusing NRC and Citizenship Bill. He says all religions are being taken into consideration for NRC.

Mr Hussain asks if only Muslim immigrants are being discriminated against. Mr. Shah says that the Bill is with the Lok Sabha.

Swaan Dasgupta (Nominated) asks if the gazette notification is applicable to the whole of India. He says there is a distinction between illegal immigrants and non-citizens.

Amit SHah says NRC will be applicable throughout the country.

Sukhendu Sekhar Ray (Trinamool) speaks about Bengali Hindus whose names have been left out of NRC. Mr. Shah says that Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian immigrants in India will be given citizenship.

Tiruchi Siva (DMK) asks about political leaders detained in Kashmir. G. Kishan Reddy, MoS Home Affairs gives the number of people in jail. Mr. Siva wants to know if an advisory board has been constituted. Mr. reddy says that it will do so soon.

Mr. Siva asks if the government will consider to allow Farooq Abdullah to participate in parliament proceedings. Mr. Reddy brings up the Emergency, and Congress rises up in protest.

Rajya Sabha | 12 noon

Amit Shah, Home Minister says that the situation in Kashmir is normal now. All landlines and mobile connections have been restored.

Leader of the Opposityion Ghulam Nabi Azad had raised the issue of information balckout in Kashmir. The Home Minister says that everything is back to normalcy with High Courts and administration functioning as usual.

Chair asks Opposition Benches to calm down and that they will take it up for discussion separately.

Lok Sabha | 12 noon

Papers are laid on the table.

Rajya Sabha | 11.45 a.m.

V. Vijaysai Reddy (YSR Congress) asks the government to retain the Waltair railway division. The division generates the fifth-highest revenue in the country, and the government wants to dismantle it. He says that if it is merged with Vijayawada division, it will create operational issues, especially in disaster management.

Vivek Tankha (INC) says that in Gwalior, there is a DRDO establishment, but because of a certain law, within 200 m of the last periphery, no other establishments can be there. The High Court has ordered the demolition of these establishments.

Prasanna Acharya (BJD) speaks about acid attacks on women.

Lok Sabha | 11.45 a.m.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Law and Justice, lists everything the government has done to do away with pendency of cases in lower courts.

K. Sudhakaran if the government is taking the Economic Survey reports and appointing more judges. Mr. Prasad says that Ease of Doing Business must become important to our governance. 478 High Court judges have been appointed in the last five years. There is a case for All India Judiciary Services. He wants fresh talent to deliver justice effectively.

Rajya Sabha | 11.30 a.m.

Chhaya Verma (INC) says that in Chhattisgarh, rice is not being bought by the Centre. She says that farmers are affected by this. Motilal Vora (INC) says that the MSP paid is not enough.

Tiruchi Siva (DMK) says Tamil must be used in the Madras High Court. He says that not using Tamil hinders access for lawyers who don't have the same background as others who have studied in English meidum. The litigants are all not literate, he says.

The Chair says that the universal practice is to have the language of the State in the High Courts. He says this is in larger national interest.

Lok Sabha | 11.30 a.m.

Minister says that the in-house storage reactor is going to be full by 2022. The exact location cannot be identified for security reasons, but this will be stored 15 metres under the surface of the earth. He says the Member fears this will become a dumping ground, but it will not be so. This is going to be fuel-specific.

Dr. Singh says that the safeguard mechanisms are well-built.

The next question is on pending cases in subordinate courts.

Rajya Sabha | 11.15 a.m.

Ritabrata Banerjee (Independent) says the ASI was looking after the upkeep of Visva Bharti University and now they have stopped. Buildings are falling to disrepair.

Shwet Malik says that farmers on the Punjab-Pakistan borders are unprotected and their lives are difficult.

A.K. Selvaraj (AIADMK) speaks about healthcare facilities and massive adulteration in various food items.

Nadimul Haque (Trinamool) speaks about the devastation caused by cyclone Bulbul, and says that agriculture has been the worst-hit.

Ripun Bora (INC) speaks about the Numaligarh refinery in Assam and the government's plan to privatise it. He says it is profit-making and has thousands of employees. It is one of the major constituents of Bharat Petroleum. The government is going to privatise BPCL and also Numaligarh. The people of Assam do not want this to happen, he says.

Lok Sabha | 11.15 a.m.

Manoj Kotak (BJP) says whatever be the security issues, naval residence colonies should be maintained.

Nishikant Dubey (BJP) says that in Jharkhand, the Army base is sitting on land where the lease has not been renewed. He asks if the government is doing something about this.

Minister answers that it is a priority for the government.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (Congress) asks a question about the cantonment in Delhi, which the Minister says he will look into.

The next question is on spent fuel storage facilities. A Tamil Nadu MP asks about the waste fuel generated by the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. Dr. Jitendra Singh says that as per the old agreement with the USSR, waste fuel had to be carried to the Soviet Union. But according to the new agreement, it had to be deposited within India. He says this is an acceptable and safe mechanism.

Rajya Sabha | 11 a.m.

House is in Session. Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu is in the Chair. Papers are laid on the table.

Zero Hour begins. Dr. Subramanian Swamy speaks about the removal of SPG cover for the Gandhis. The Home Ministry decides, he says. The threat rose from the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. There is no LTTE now, he says. He tries to bring up Sonia Gandhi asking for commutation of the convicts’s sentence, but Chair says that is unnecessary now. Congress Benches rise up in protest.

J.P. Nadda says that the withdrawal of protection is not political.

Shantanu Sen (Trinamool) speaks about the banning of oxytocin and post-partum heamorrhage. He says this affects maternal mortality. He says the Health Ministry's advice on this contradicts what WHO says. He asks the Ministry to reconsider.

Lok Sabha | 11 a.m.

House is in Session. Speaker Om Birla is in the Chair.

Question Hour begins, with the first question on defence establishments. BJP MP Gopal Shetty asks about the Adarsh building in Mumbai. He says even repair works have stopped. He says it has been eight years.

Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that the House should take into consideration that MPs have met to discuss this issue and it is reaching the stage of finalisation.

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