A REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS

The Lok Sabha today passed a Bill which seeks to deal sternly with malpractices and irregularities in government recruitment examinations, with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to Rs 1 crore. ” ”Piloting the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the proposed law is meant to safeguard the interest of meritorious students and candidates. ” ”The Lok Sabha passed the Bill after rejecting some amendments by opposition members. ” ”The Minister said students and candidates will not be under the purview of the proposed law but it was brought to check malpractices in examinations and curb organised gang. ” ”The bill which seeks to deal sternly with malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to one crore rupees was introduced in the house yesterday. ” ”He said, "We have not kept student or candidate under the purview of this law," while intervening in the debate. ” ”He said that the government "will not allow meritorious candidates to be sacrificed at the alter of organised crimes". ” ”Singh said the students and candidates do not fall in the purview of this bill and there will be no harm to job aspirants. ” ”The bill also proposes a high-level national technical committee on public examinations that will make recommendations to make the computerised examination process more secure. ” ”The bill primarily aims to deter such nefarious elements. ” ”Satya Pal Singh, former Mumbai Police Commissioner and BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, said when he was the HRD Minister he got to closely see the malpractices in the PhDs which was a mandatory requirement for being recruited as assistant professors. ” ”Kathir Anand of DMK from Vellore; Chinta Anuradha of YSR Congress from Amalapuram (Andhra Pradesh); Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Shiv Sena MP and BJD MP Achyutananda Samanta, also spoke in support of the bill. ” ”At present, there is no specific substantive law to deal with unfair means adopted or offences committed by various entities involved in the conduct of public examinations by the central government and its agencies. ” ”The bill proposes action against organised gangs, mafia elements and those indulging in malpractices and will not even spare government officials found in collusion with them.    ” ”The objective of the bill is to bring in greater transparency, fairness and credibility to the public examination systems and to reassure the youth that their sincere and genuine efforts will be fairly rewarded and their future is safe. ” ”Addressing a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament at the beginning of the Budget session on January 31, President Droupadi Murmu had said the government is aware of the concerns of the youth regarding irregularities in examinations. ” ”"Therefore, it has been decided to enact a new law to deal sternly with such malpractices," she had said. ” ”The Lok Sabha also passed a bill today to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes in local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, with the government asserting that important changes have taken place in the Union territory since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. ” ”Replying to a brief debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill-2024, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have started enjoying the fruits of development ushered in by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ” ”Currently, there is no provision for reservation of seats for Other Backward Classes in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ”The bill seeks to provide reservation to Other Backward Classes in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir and bring consistency in the local body laws of the Union territory with the provisions of the Constitution. ” ”"With this, justice will be ensured to the citizens of Other Backward Classes of Jammu and Kashmir for the first time after 75 years of independence," according to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill. ” ”In his reply to the discussion on the bill in the Lok Sabha, Rai said he made no reference to the opposition demand for the government to spell out a time frame for holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir and the restoration of statehood. ” ”Rai said the opposition members, participating in the debate, were resorting to a drama of supporting the bill granting reservation to OBCs in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir and were raising other issues. ” ”"I wish to make one thing clear, no matter how much you go around in circles, but in Jammu and Kashmir wherever you go you will only hear 'Modi, Modi' and the development ushered in by Modi," the Minister said. ” ”Earlier, opposition members in the Lok Sabha urged the government to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest. ” ”Participating in the debate, Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference (NC) demanded that the polls in the Union territory be held soon. ” ”He said the central government should have decided on the polls before the Supreme Court had to intervene in the matter. ” ”The top court had a few months back asked the Election Commission to hold assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September this year. ” ”Masoodi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had yesterday, said his government would take big decisions. Polls in the Union territory should be held before other big ticket decisions are taken, Masoodi said. ” ”Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra intervened to point out that local bodies' elections were held in the erstwhile state. ” ”Participating in the debate, Saugata Roy of TMC also referred to the Supreme Court observation and pitched for early assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ”On August 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was made a Union territory with a provision for a legislative assembly after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state. ” ”Supriya Sule of the NCP demanded a timeline and "not a vague" answer from the government on holding assembly polls and giving statehood to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. She said while the Election Commission will decide on the date, the government could at least give a tentative timeline for holding the democratic exercise. ” ”Jugal Kishore Sharma of BJP said the bill would ensure justice to OBCs in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ”Chinta Anuradha of the YSR Congress Party said this was a progressive legislation and would help streamline the election process in the local bodies, including panchayats. ” ”Shiv Sena member Pratap Jadhav, Navneet Rana Independent, Kaushalendra Kumar of JD-U, Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP, Veeraswamy Kalanidhi of DMK, N K Premachandran of RSP, Ve Vaithilingam and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury both Congress also participated in the debate. ” ”The Lok Sabha today witnessed a war of words over a remark made by T R Baalu against Union Minister L Murugan, with ruling BJP MPs asking the DMK leader to apologise for "insulting" a Dalit. ” ”As Baalu did not heed to the demand, Speaker Om Birla expunged the word from the records while DMK members along with the Congress and Left MPs staged a walkout. ” ”The incident took place when the House was discussing a question related to flood relief to Tamil Nadu during the Question Hour. ” ”After two of his party colleagues asked questions on the subject, Baalu asked a supplementary. At that point of time, Murugan, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, who also hails from Tamil Nadu, said the DMK leader was asking an "irrelevant" question. ” ”At this, Baalu made a comment against Murugan. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, his deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal, several other Ministers and BJP MPs were on their feet protesting against the remark of Baalu. ” ”They claimed that Murugan is a Dalit and the remark is an "insult" to the entire Dalit community and demanded an apology. However, Baalu repeated the word. ” ”At this, the ruling party members protested again and sought his apology. Soon, the speaker expunged the remark. ” ”The highlight in the Rajya Sabha today is the passage of three bills, including two bills that seek to modify the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. ” ”The House also passed the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill, 2024, that seeks to decriminalise minor offences related to water pollution. ” ”The bill also seeks to enable the Centre to prescribe service conditions of chairpersons of State Pollution Control Boards and exempt certain categories of industrial plants from statutory restrictions. ” ”The House also continued with the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the debate tomorrow. ” ”The Upper House cleared the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 by a voice vote. ” ”The bill seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in Andhra Pradesh, and the second one seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Odisha. ” ”Both the bills were piloted by Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda in the upper house. ” ”Replying to the debate, the minister said both the bills have been brought with long-term planning. ” ”In Andhra Pradesh, three more ethnic groups – – Bondo Porja, Khond Porja, Parangiperja are being added to the list of Scheduled Tribes. While in Odisha it will add four groups in the list.  ” ”All these are part of Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and they have been added to the scheduled list after 75 years of independence. ” ”There are 75 PVTGs which are spread from Andaman Island to the mainland. The government has started a scheme and worked in mission mode with a target to reach them in the far-flung areas in which they reside, Munda said. ” ”The names of such 10 PVTGs were not added in the list of scheduled tribes and they were deprived of conditional rights and faced injustice, the Minister said. ” ”Munda further said he has written letters to the state governments, where the population of PVTGs are on the decline. ” ”He said the government has also launched schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan to improve the socio-economic conditions of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. ” ”The minister also said that "Scheduled tribe is a character, not a caste. It inherits the character of the community". ” ”Participating in the discussions, Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan said the two bills seek to correct the historical anomalies with the inclusion of seven communities from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the SC/ST list. ” ”The passage of the bills in the Rajya Sabha and later in the Lok Sabha will have an immense socio economic and psychological impact on the four primitive tribes from Odisha, he said. ” ”Pradhan said it is after 22 years that Parliament has taken up bills to make changes in the SC/ST list. He also attacked the Congress for doing nothing for backward castes even after being in power for such a long period. ” ”He said that the government will not leave out any deserving community which needs to be included in the SC/ST list. ” ”Binoy Viswam of CPI alleged that the BJP government is against tribals, backwards and women and they seek the support from such communities only during elections. ” ”Ryaga Krishnaiah of YSR Congress Party and Ashok Kumar Mittal Aam Aadmi Party also participated in the discussion. ” ”Santanu Sen of the Trinamool Congress said it gives him pain while recalling that the President of India who belongs to a tribal community was not invited during the inauguration of the new Parliament building or during the Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya. ” ”L Hanumanthaiah of the Congress sought to know why the government cannot look at the whole Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes list afresh and make it an inclusive list of SCs and STs across the country. ” ”Piloting the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill 2024, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that development and environment protection must go together. There should be harmony in ease of living and ease of doing business, he added. ” ”The upper house gave its nod to the bill by a voice vote. ” ”Replying to the debate, the Minister said its provisions will lead to greater transparency in dealing with various issues related to water pollution. ” ”The Amendment proposes to rationalise criminal provisions and ensure that citizens, businesses and companies operate without fear of imprisonment for minor, technical or procedural defaults, the objectives of the bill say. ” ”According to the proposed law, the central government will prescribe the manner of nomination of chairpersons of State Pollution Control Boards. ” ”The Bill also seeks to decriminalise minor offences and replace it with monetary penalty in case of continuation of contravention. ” ”Yadav said the bill decriminalises some of the penal provisions. ” ”All penal provisions have been freed from imprisonment and will be replaced with penalty except for violations made under sections 25 and 26, he said. ” ”The bill also empowers the central government to issue notifications and exempt certain categories of industries from obtaining required consent prior to establishing any industrial unit. ” ”This will reduce the duplication of surveillance and unnecessary burden of regulatory agencies, Yadav said. ” ”Initiating the debate Lakshmikant Bajpai of BJP said this is a step towards ease of doing business. It would free the business from the inspector raj and provide a better mechanism. ” ”Jawahar Sircar of Trinamool Congress said air pollution, water pollution and environment sensitive zones, wild forests each one remain a devastated pillar of this government. This is just one more addition. ” ”Sulta Deo of Biju Janata Dal supported the bill and saying it is a better mechanism for monitoring wastage of water is required. ” ”Subhashh Chandra Bose Pilli of YSRCP, V Sivadasan of CPI M, and M Thambidurai of AIADMK also participated in the discussion. ” ”Earlier during zero hour, K C Venugopal of Congress urged the government to probe any 'hate crime' behind Indian students' deaths abroad. ” ”Raising a "matter of serious concern" during the Zero Hour, Venugopal said that according to recent information shared by the External Affairs Minister in the Lok Sabha, a staggering 403 Indian students have lost their lives in foreign countries since 2018. ” ”Citing the information provided by the minister, Venugopal said Canada topped the list with 91 incidents, followed by the United Kingdom with 48 cases. ” ”In the United States alone four Indian or Indian-origin students lost their lives in January this year. ” ”Sasmit Patra of Biju Janata Dal in his zero hour submission, asked the government to consider inclusion of "Ahimsa" or non-violence in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution as requested by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. ” ”Ashok Bajpai of BJP asked the government to bring a law to take action against people who denigrate Hindu culture and gods. ” ”Participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks, former prime minister and JDS leader H D Deve Gowda appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle Karnataka's drinking water problem. ” ”He said he will not praise the Prime Minister unless he is satisfied that there are several programmes that everyone should appreciate. ” ”"I have not come here to make an election campaign, the country will appreciate the work of the Prime Minister," he said. ” ”Taking a dig at the Congress government in Karnataka, Deve Gowda said, "What is this guarantee scheme? Such an unproductive expenditure". ” ”Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain, however, sought to interrupt him while clarifying on the issue. ” ”Abhishek Singhvi of Congress, Sandosh Kumar P of CPI, Mamta Mohanta and Sasmit Patra both Biju Janata Dal participated in the discussion.  ”

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A REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS