Review of Parliament proceedings

The Rajya Sabha today discussed The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 to regulate the appointment, conditions of service, and term of office of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, and the procedure for transaction of business by the Election Commission. ”   ” The proceedings on the seventh day of the Winter Session began with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar extending birthday greetings to members Sharad Pawar of NCP and V. Muraleedharan of BJP. ”   ” In the Zero Hour, Samirul Islam of the All India Trinamool Congress raised the issue of migrant workers, particularly in West Bengal. He said that there is a need to initiate welfare measures for migrant workers. ”   ”  Kamlesh Soni of the BJP demanded compulsory military training for secondary school and university students. ”   ” Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena raised concern on the activities of Khalistani terrorists on foreign soil. Stating that they are threatening to bomb Air India flights and Parliament. The member said, 'We should bring them back through efforts by the Ministry of External Affairs and other officials and ensure that they receive rigorous punishment.' ”   ” Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that it is an important issue and that he will discuss it with floor leaders so that a voice from the House reaches across the world. ”   ” G V L Narasimha Rao of the BJP called for efforts to revive the Visakhapatnam Steel plant. ”   ” Mastaan Rao Beeda of the YSR Congress Party stressed the need for effort to support the horticulture sector in Andhra Pradesh. ”   ” Ramnath Thakur of the JD (U) called for a uniform policy for pricing of gas cylinders across the country. ”   ” Ashok Bajpai expressed concern on encroachment of spaces in the river bed area. ”   ” Ramchand Jangra of the BJP raised the issue of granting houses to Gadia and Lohar communities in Delhi. ”   ” Mohammad Abdulla of the DMK demanded the setting up of a food processing ministry to set up cold storage facilities in the country. ”   ” Maharashtra mohanta of the Biju Janata Dal requested for promotion of Santhali sarees in Odisha. ”   ” Dr. Sonal Mansingh of BJP expressed the need to preserve traditional Indian forms of dance. She said solo performances are ending and group performances are taking over. ” ”  Sultan Deo of the Biju Janata Dal demanded funds for biodiversity conservation in Chilka Lake in Odisha. ”     ” During the Question Hour, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterway, Sarbananda Sonowal, replying to a query, said that the Government has already started international cruise liners. ”   ” The Minister said that International players like Cordelia and Royal Carribean are coming forward. He said that India has become an international destination for river and ocean cruises. ”   ” In reply to a question, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharti Pravin Pawar said that a holistic approach is being taken by the government, with the participation of multiple ministries, including AYUSH, for tackling rising cases of anemia in the country. ”   ” She said that ayurveda and homeopathic medicines are also being included in this initiative. ”   ” Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba, replying to a query, said that there has been a lot of efforts in the last ten years to increase the production of fertilizers. He said that nano urea has also been introduced in recent years. ”   ” Replying to a query, Minister for chemical and fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya said that Nano urea is being used in a big way today as an alternate source of fertilizers. ”   ” He said that the imports of urea have been reduced from 400 lakh metric tonnes to 200 lakh metric tonnes. ”   ” When the House resumed in the post Lunch session, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar called for taking up consideration of The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023 to regulate the appointment, conditions of service and term of office of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, and the procedure for transaction of business by the Election Commission. ”     ” Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the bill for consideration of the House. ”   ” Initiating a discussion on the Bill, Randeep Singh Surjewala of the Congress said that the Bill is against the spirit of Article 14 of the Constitution and against the Supreme Court order. ”   ” ''The basis of Democracy is impartial elections. The authority which conducts the same is the Election Commission, 'he said. ”   ” Surjewala said that Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and other members of the Constituent Assembly stressed the importance of the election machinery being out of the executive control. ”     ”  He questioned the section outlining the members of the committee that is proposed to elect the Chief Election Commissioner- the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition, and a Cabinet Minister selected by the Prime Minister. ”   ” 'This section does away with the Supreme Court’s judgment,' he said. ”   ” Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that Parliament has the overarching power to make laws. ”   ” To this Surjewala said that the present law seeks to bulldoze the spirit of democracy and accountability to the Constitution. ”   ” 'Constituent Assembly was unanimous about free and fair election being the cornerstone of democracy, Surjewala said. ”   ” Ghanshyam Tiwari of the BJP said that if you seek to improve elections, the impact of wealth and black money should be reduced. ”   ” On Congress criticizing the Bill, he said that all these words do not suit a party that choked the throat of Democracy and imposed an Emergency. ”   ” Opposing the bill, Jawahar Sircar of the All India Trinamool Congress said that the Bill can lead to the legalization of rigging. ”   ” ''Our democracy rests on free and fair elections,’ Mr. Sircar said. ”   ” Citing Clause 8 of the Bill, which he termed as dangerous, 'he said that any person can be appointed as Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. What a dangerous precedent you’re opening.'' ”   ” Tiruchi Siva of the DMK opposed the Bill saying that it goes against the spirit of free and fair elections. ”   ” Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party said that this will destroy the remaining independent institutions in India, among which is the Election Commission. ”   ” He also said the Bill is against the basic structure of the Constitution. ”   ”  The member said that the Bill paves the way for the appointment of a yes man as Chief Election Commissioner. ”   ” He said that the Bill is disrespectful to the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of India, and BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. ”   ” He said Advani had earlier said that the government should not be involved in the selection of CEC. ”   ” The bill fails the test of neutrality, he said. ”   ” ''Bill is a daylight robbery on Democracy in India,' he said and urged the government for withdrawal of the Bill. ”   ” Amar Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal said that through the post-independence history, the Election Commission of India has maintained its neutrality. ”   ” He said that there is no affront to the process of Election of Chief Election Commissioner by the Bill. ”   ” 'The entire argument is fallacious, 'he said. ”   ” G V L Narasimha Rao of the BJP, seeking to raise a point of order, said that some words and phrases used by Raghav Chadha are objectionable. ”   ” Jaya Bachchan who was in the Chair said that Rao should have raised the Points of Order earlier. ”   ” A D Singh of the RJD opposed the Bill saying that there is an Emergency in the country which is worse than that of 1975. ”   ” Leader of the House Piyush Goyal objected to the comments made by the RJD member. ”   ” He said that it was unfair to make such a comment, where today we are able to speak in this House with freedom. ”   ” Acting chair Jaya Bachchan said that the RJD member used his freedom. ”  Defending A D Singh, Manoj Jha of the RJD said the comment was metaphorical. ”   ” John Brittus of the CPI-M said that the Bill makes the election system more opaque. He said that the intention of the government is to circumvent the Supreme Court order. ”   ” 'Two pillars of the electoral process are money power and muscle power, 'he said. ”   ”  Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said that the Bill is being brought in consonant with Article 50 which talks about the separation of powers. ”   ” 'We are replacing the Bill of 1991, he said. ”   ” On opposition criticism that the Bill goes against the Supreme Court, he said it is being brought on the direction of the Supreme Court. ”   ” 'It is not against the Supreme Court, 'he said. ”   ” He said that the Government is committed to maintaining the impartiality of the Election Commission of India. ”   ” After the Minister's reply, the Bill with amendments was passed by voice vote. ”   ” The passage of the Bill came after the amendments moved by John Brittus and V Sivadasan to refer the Bill to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha were rejected by the House. The House also rejected other amendments moved by John Brittus and Manoj Jha of the RJD. ”   ” With the passage in Rajya Sabha, the Bill has received approval from Parliament. ”   ” The Bill replaces the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991.  It provides for the appointment, salary, and removal of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs). ”   ” The CEC and ECs will be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of a Selection Committee. The Selection Committee will consist of the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister, and Leader of Opposition/leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha. ”   ” Recommendations of the Selection Committee will be valid even when there is a vacancy in this Committee.  ”   ” A Search Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary will propose a panel of names to the Selection Committee.  Eligibility for the posts includes holding (or having held) a post equivalent to the Secretary to the central government. ”   ” After the passage of the Bill, the Chairman adjourned the House for the day. ”     ” Home Minister Amit Shah today withdrew three bills which meant to replace as many criminal laws and introduced a fresh set of draft legislations incorporating recommendations of a Parliamentary panel in the Lok Sabha. ”       ” He said instead of bringing several official amendments to incorporate recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs, the government decided to bring fresh bills incorporating changes. ”       ” The discussion on the bills will take place on Thursday and voting will take place Friday, Shah told opposition members who demanded sufficient time to study the three bills. ”       ” He said he introduced the bills today so that the members could get 48 hours to study the draft laws. ”       ” He said mainly five sections have been tweaked and most of the changes relate to grammar and language. ”     ” The redrafted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam bill seek to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively. ”     ” Home Minister Shah also rejected suggestions of referring the three measures to a joint committee, saying the standing committee has made several recommendations. ”     ” He said the government is open to incorporate any suggestion proposed by the opposition. ”       ” He said many amendments are related to correcting grammatical errors, full stops, and commas, rejecting any suggestion that the bills now withdrawn have undergone a major substantive change. ”     ”  A total of 12 hours have been allocated for discussing the three Bills, Speaker Om Birla said. ”       ” The Lok Sabha cleared a net additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore rupees in the current fiscal ending March 2024, with a large chunk going towards MGNREGA and subsidy on fertilizer. ”     ” The gross additional spending sought by the government was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore rupees of which 70,968 crore rupees would be matched by savings and receipts. ”     ” Replying to a debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that fiscal prudence is the top priority of the government without compromising on social welfare. ”       ” She said that the net additional spending by the government would be 58,378.21 crore rupees in the current fiscal. ”       ” The additional expenditure includes 13,351 crore rupees towards fertilizer subsidy and about 7,000 crore rupees towards spending by the Department of Food and Public Distribution. ”       ” The House also approved an additional outgo of 9,200 crore rupees spending by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and 14,524 crore rupees by the Ministry of Rural Development towards MGNREGA. ”       ” The total supplementary demands for spending by the Ministry of External Affairs were 20,000 crore rupees, which would be adjusted against the reduction of expenditure of over 9,000 crore rupees. ”       ” For the full 2023-24, the government has budgeted the fiscal deficit to be 17.86 lakh crore rupees or 5.9 percent of the GDP. ”       ” The April-October fiscal deficit was 45.6 percent of the full-year Budget Estimate of the last fiscal. ”       ” During the debate, Sushil Kumar Rinku of Aam Aadmi Party urged the Centre to release the pending funds for Punjab and said 8,000 crore rupees worth central grants for the state are pending. ”       ” As the Lok Sabha discussed the supplementary demands for grants, the Aam Aadmi Party MP said 5,637 crore rupees of rural development funds for Punjab which is used to construct and maintain the mandis and roads in the rural areas. ”     ” He also said 621 crore rupees under the National Health Mission is pending for Punjab. ”       ” The health minister has alleged that the Punjab government is using the funds of the National Health Mission for mohalla clinics but there are 660 mohalla clinics in Punjab, benefitting lakhs of people, he said. ”       ” Rinku said that Rs 850 crore from the Mandi Development Fund (MDF) and the Special Assistance Fund of Rs 1,800 crore is pending with the Centre. ”     ” Meanwhile, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, raised the issue of increasing inflation. ”       ” Quoting a book by former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan and economist Rohit Lamba, the Congress leader said the stock market offers a misleading picture of the economy. ”     ” The big is getting bigger and the small are becoming smaller, he said. ”     ” Chowdhury said the pressure of inflation is rising and the people are dipping into their savings to meet the consumption demands. ”     ” P. Ravindranath of AIADMK urged the Centre to enhance the allocation for Chennai under the disaster mitigation fund. ”       ” He also sought a dedicated budgeting to address the issues of climate change impacts such as extreme weather events, rising sea levels and challenging rainfall patterns. ”       ” Two bills to extend the provisions of the women's reservation law to the Union Territories of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir were introduced in the Lok Sabha today. ”       ” Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha. ”   ” The statement of object and reasons in the bill said consequent to the enactment of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, similar provisions for providing reservation for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are also required to be made by Parliament by amending the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. ”     ” The provisions for providing reservation for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Puducherry are also required to be made by Parliament by amending the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, he said. ”     ” The two bills seek to enable greater representation and participation of women as public representatives in law-making processes in the legislative assemblies of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. ”     ” Officially known as the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, the women's reservation law seeks to provide 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. ”       ” During a special session of Parliament in September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the law as "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam". ”       ” The Constitution Amendments Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha with near unanimity and the Rajya Sabha with unanimity. ”     ” The law will take some time before being implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise — redrawing of the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies — will ascertain the particular seats being earmarked for women. ”     ” The quota for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies will continue for 15 years and Parliament can later extend the benefit period. ”     ” Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress opposed the introduction and said the government should clarify when assembly polls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir as the Supreme Court has asked it to do so by September 2024.

Social Media Links

Transcript summary

Review of Parliament proceedings