The deaths of three students due to drowning in a Delhi coaching centre was heatedly debated on Monday, July 29 in both Houses of Parliament. Apart from the Bihar-Andhra skew in the Union Budget, several first-time MPs made their debut speech, raising issues related to their respective constituencies. Both Houses functioned till an extended time of 8 PM.
Lok Sabha
Kicking off proceedings for the day, a blame-game ensued among BJP and AAP MPs in the Lower House over the drowning of three students in the ground floor of an IAS coaching centre in West Delhi. Both BJP and Opposition MPs demanded an enquiry into the matter, terming the flooding of the basement due to bursting of a nearby drain as ‘criminal negligence’.
On the Union Budget 2024-25, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi raised the curtailed allotment towards minority scholarships. Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandviya assured that there was no threat from artificial intelligence on jobs due to the growing economy. Refuting brain-drain accusations, Union Minister Dharamendra Pradhan said there was no dearth of quality institutions in the country, be it IIT, IIM or NIT.
Post-lunch, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the 2024 Budget does not promise to stop tax terrorism in the country. Referring to the epic Mahabharata according to which Abhimanyu was killed in a ‘chakravyuh’ — a multi-tiered maze and formation — in which he was trapped, he said now India’s youth were caught in ‘chakravyuh’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat, Ajit Doval, [Mukesh] Ambani and [Gautam] Adani. His references to industrialists Ambani and Adani allegedly monopolising business were disallowed by Speaker Om Birla.
He also alleged that backward classes found no representation in jobs - government or private and promised to have the caste census passed in the House. Accusing the Centre of ‘caging journalists’, he said they should be allowed to pursue their duties. Demands for special status for Andhra Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir’s MPs’ stake in preparing the Union territory’s budget were also raised.
The debate on the Union Budget continued till 8 PM. Many first-time MPs like Naveen Jindal, Naresh Ganpat Mhaske, Chandrashekhar Azad, Raj Kumar Roat, Aditya Yadav, Saleng A. Sangma and Kamaljeet Sehrawat made their debut speech in the Lok Sabha. Opposition MPs decried the Andhra-Bihar skew in the Union Budget, inadequate allocation to Scheduled Castes and Tribes, farmers, education, health. Some also raised the increased taxation on the middle class, leading to ‘exodus of tax payers’ from the country.
In response, several BJP MPs defended the Budget, highlighting previous Congress governments’ indifference to the East and North-East. They also lauded the Budget expanded allocation to women, infrastructure, focus on natural farming while raising demands from their own constituencies. The Chair cut-short several members’ speech due to time constraint. Lok Sabha was then adjourned for the day.
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha commenced with several members demanding a short discussion on the UPSC coaching centre flooding deaths. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar termed the coaching centres as silos which were “no less than a gas chamber.” He also stressed on the need to examine the huge expenditure incurred by such centres on newspaper advertisements.
Blame-game over the deaths occurred in the Upper House also as BJP MP Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi asserted that it was criminal negligence on part of the Delhi government and Municipal Corporation of Delhi - both ruled by AAP. Countering him, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that it was the BJP which had ruled MCD till last year and that the Lieutenant Governor obstructed Delhi State government officials from doing their work.
Several Opposition MPs also demanded a discussion on the NEET issue, Manipur violence, Assam floods, comparing the alacrity with which the UPSC coaching centre deaths were taken up for discussion. Other issues like plastic waste disposal, ground water recharging, Pune flooding, lightning strike deaths were also discussed in Zero Hour and Question Hour.
A short duration discussion on the death of three students due to flooding in a coaching institute in Delhi was then held in the Rajya Sabha. Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala demanded a law to regulate coaching institutes, while Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan demanded accountability on the issue - highlighting Centre’s advisory on coaching centres to States and Union Territories. CPI(M) MP John Brittas demanded an answer from Home Minister Amit Shah on the deaths while AAP MP Swati Maliwal demanded that the Delhi government pay Rs 1 crore ex gratia to the families of the deceased students. Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar also blamed the AAP government for the deaths.
Post 5 PM, the Upper House commenced discussion on the Union Budget till 8 PM. Similar to Lok Sabha, Opposition MPs highlighted Andhra-Bihar skew, inadequate allocation to farmers, railways, judiciary, employment, skill development, MSMEs. Several MPs also complained that states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala were ignored. MPs also highlighted the reduction in allocation to schemes like MGNREGA. The House was then adjourned for the day.
(Compiled by Suchitra Karthikeyan, Sruthi Darbhamulla, Yohaan Ashish Varghese, Saptaparno Ghosh, Sumeda, and Priyali Prakash)
Published - July 29, 2024 10:22 pm IST
