Review of proceedings in Parliament

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that the Union Budget astutely balances the requirement for India's development imperatives while sticking to fiscal prudence as she lauded its various aspects in her reply to a general discussion on the Union Budget. ” ” She said the new tax regime which offers a rebate on annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh rupees will leave higher disposable income in the hands of people. ” ” She said the Budget focuses on the middle class, employment generation, MSME, agri sector, rural population, health and green growth. ” Sitharaman said the new tax regime announced in the Budget is very attractive as the tax exemption limit has been hiked to 3 lakh rupees from 2.5 lakh rupees earlier. Besides, a standard deduction of 50,000 rupees too has been allowed under the scheme. ” ” This new tax regime will benefit the majority of middle-class taxpayers, she said, adding that the rebate has been provided on an income of up to 7 lakh rupees. ” Since the enhanced rebate limit is unconditional, it leaves higher disposable income in the hands of people, Sitharaman said. ” ” Under the revamped concessional tax regime, which will be effective from the next fiscal, no tax would be levied for income up to 3 lakh rupees. Income between 3 to 6 lakh rupees would be taxed at 5 per cent; 6 to 9 lakh rupees at 10 per cent, 9 to 12 lakh rupees at 15 per cent, 12 to 15 lakh rupees at 20 per cent and income of  15 lakh rupees and above will be taxed at 30 per cent. However, no tax would be levied on annual income of up to 7 lakh rupees. ” ”Responding to RSP member NK Premachandran's remark that the new tax regime will not be beneficial for a person earning 9 lakh rupees annually and having an investment of 4.5 lakh rupees in tax savings instruments, Sitharaman said for a person saving 4.5 lakh rupees will be an effort-ridden exercise. ” ” For a person earning 9 lakh rupees, it's not always possible to have 4.5 lakh rupees as saving and then also have enough money to spend on your family, Sitharaman said. ” ”The minister also said the Budget has maintained fiscal prudence as announced in the fiscal glide path earlier. ” ” It is a very, very delicately balanced Budget, Sitharaman said, adding the government chose the capital expenditure route to revive the economy as it has a greater multiplier effect. ” She also refuted the criticism that the Centre has not given states its due. She said the total resources being transferred to states as the Central share from taxes and releases under centrally sponsored schemes put together is estimated to be at 17.98 Lakh crores rupees. This is higher by 1.55 Lakh crores rupees compared to last year, she said. ” She said the government has insulated farmers from rising fertilizer prices in global markets by increasing subsidy which has been raised to 2.25 lakh crore rupees for current fiscal from the budget estimate of 1.05 lakh crore rupees. ” ” Agriculture credit target for 2023-24 fiscal has been increased to 20 lakh crore rupees, the finance minister said. ” ” Earlier, during the discussion Tejasvi Surya of BJP hailed the Union Budget as progressive that laid the foundation for fast-paced development as India marches ahead to the centenary year of its Independence. ” ”Surya said his home state Karnataka had benefited the most from budgetary allocations under nine years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with improved road, rail and air connectivity in the state. ” ” Surya, the Lok Sabha member from Bengaluru South, spoke largely in Kannada and focussed his speech on the allocation for Karnataka, where assembly elections are due in May. ” ”He lashed out at the previous Congress regimes and accused the main opposition party for ignoring development projects in Karnataka for decades. ” ” In 1975, when Indira Gandhi had contested elections from Chikmagalur, she had promised to build a broad gauge railway line between Kadur and Chikmagalur. The era of Indira Gandhi went by, the era of Rajiv Gandhi went by, the era of Sonia Gandhi also went by, but Chikmagalur did not get the railway line. This is how Congress did injustice to Karnataka, said Surya, who is also the president of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha. ” ” He also thanked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for making the highest allocation for development of railways in Karnataka. ” ” Surya said Bengaluru had emerged as the world's fastest growing city and will be a powerhouse of India's growth engine. ” ” He said the prime minister has also promised the people of Bengaluru to complete the suburban railway project, which has been pending for 40 years, within the next 40 months. ” Surya said Karnataka was the most progressive state in the country with the highest number of start-ups and unicorns and also was a leader in innovation. ” ” If you give Rs 100  to Karnataka, the state will return Rs 1,000. That is the power of Karnataka, he said. ” ” BJP member Kirit Solanki said the Union Budget was pro-people that addressed concerns of every section of the society. ” ” BJP member Ramesh Bidhuri hit out at the Congress for criticizing the Budget over slashing allocations to MGNREGA. ” ” He said the Congress was turning a blind eye to the higher allocation made to PM-Awas initiative that aimed at providing a home to the homeless. ” ” This negative approach of the Congress has ensured reduction in the party's footprint across the country. If they continue with such an approach, the Congress will also vanish from this House, Bidhuri said. ” ” S Thirunavukkarasar of Congress said the Budget was silent on the allocation for minorities and only focussed on taking money from the pockets of the people. ” Sunita Duggal of BJP lauded the Budget and said India has emerged as a bright star in the world economy. ” ” She also said inflation was low in India compared to developed economies such as the US, the UK, and Russia. ” ” Malook Nagar of the Bahujan Samaj Party attacked the Congress government in Rajasthan and said they manipulated BSP MLAs in the state to switch parties. ” ” Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar today suspended Rajani Ashokrao Patil of Congress for the remainder of the current Budget Session for filming House proceedings. ” ” Dhankhar, who had earlier in the day indicated that action would be taken against those who had filmed a ruckus during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech yesterday and asked leaders of political parties to express their views on the issue. ” ” Thereafter, a motion was adopted to suspend Patil for the remainder of the Budget Session, pending a report from the parliamentary privileges committee on the issue ” Congress MP Rajani Patil who was suspended by the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the budget session of Parliament said it was not fair to give her harshest punishment as she has not done anything deliberately. ” ” The motion against her was adopted to suspend Patil for the remainder of the Budget Session, pending a report from the parliamentary privileges committee on the issue. ” ” In her reply to the general discussion on the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rejected Opposition charges of the Budget allocations for green and clean energy favouring the Adani Group, saying it might be Congress culture to give benefits to brother-in-laws and nephews but not of the Modi government. ”     ”Sitharaman had in Budget 2023-24 provided 35,000 crore rupees for clean energy transition — a space where the Adani Group has announced massive projects ranging from renewable energy capacity to green hydrogen production. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, any allocation is not made keeping anyone specific in mind, rather by keeping everyone in mind. The government keeps country in mind. Such kind of remarks is absolutely wrong, the minister said without naming any company or individual. ” ” While participating in the debate, Congress' Leader of the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought an explanation from the Finance Minister on how can investors have confidence when the market capitalisation of one of the richest persons in the world eroded by 47 per cent following allegations of accounting fraud and stock price manipulation. ” ” Without naming the Congress, Sitharaman said there were times when phone calls were made to banks for giving loans to benefit certain people. ” ” If phone calls were made, if relations were given benefit, if jijajis and bhatijas were given benefit, it might be their culture, she said in an apparent dig at the Gandhi family. ”   ”Sitharaman also hit out at the Congress for alleging that the government was ignoring minorities and said during earlier Congress regimes, there were massacres and cited examples of Nellie in Assam and the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. She also accused the then Congress party government for brutally suppressing Sadhus protesting cow slaughter in Delhi in 1966. ” ” The Modi government was not against any community and does not believe in vote bank politics, she said. ” ” Manoj Tiwari of BJP accused the Aam Aadmi Party of tapping into the phones of the city residents in violation of their privacy and sought strictest action against it. ”     ”Speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Tiwari alleged that in the garb of taking feedback, the Delhi government is tapping phone calls of Delhi residents as well as people visiting the national capital. This is a breach of our fundamental right, Tiwari said. He said the Delhi government tapped the phone calls through a feedback unit set up under Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. ” ” Tiwari demanded investigation into the matter. ” Rajiv Pratap Rudy of BJP claimed that the Bihar government's decision to conduct a caste-based survey has created a frenzy and is triggering clashes in the state. ” ” ” NOW REVIEW OF PROCEEDINGS IN RAJYA SABHA ” ” The government has informed Parliament today that around 1,333 multi-national companies have shut down in India but more than 4,900 new ones have come up opening new avenues and job opportunities. ” ” Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said it is normal to see some Multi-national Companies got closed and some new are to come up. ” ” A total of 1,333 Multi-national Companies have been closed down in the country, out of which 313 were foreign-based and 1,017 were their subsidiaries, he said. The minister, however, did not share the time period during which the Multi-national Companies were shut and new ones were opened. ” ” Earlier, in the day Congress and some other opposition members staged a walkout after the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was not allowed to speak in the House. ” ”Kharge wanted to raise the issue of some of his observations being expunged by the chair, but he was not allowed on the plea that he cannot read the same remarks which have already been expunged. ” ” Thereafter Opposition members protested in support of the Leader of Opposition who wanted to raise his point, but the chair did not accede to their demand. ” ”Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he had allowed the Leader of Opposition earlier but he cannot be allowed to raise the same points which have already been expunged. ” ” Kharge then said that Congress members and some opposition members including those from the RJD staged a walkout in protest. ” ” Earlier, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said Kharge should first apologise on behalf of the entire opposition, which created uproar during the prime minister's speech in reply to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address in Rajya Sabha yesterday. ” ” Replying to a question Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said milk prices in the country have risen due to increase in the cost of feed and fodder. Dairy companies pass on 75 per cent of the retail price to farmers. There is a need to balance between farmers and consumers. Farmers need to get higher returns on milk for them to take up dairy farming, he said. ” ” Replying to another supplementary question, Balyan said three private firms are conducting trial of a vaccine developed by Hisar-based ICAR institute for the control of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle. The trial is underway and he is hopeful after the trial, the vaccine will be commercialised soon. ” ” Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP  on Friday suggested that big techs like Facebook, Google and YouTube, should be made to share advertising revenue, they earn from posting news reports, with media companies who are the original content creators. ” ” Raising the matter during the Zero Hour in the House, he said newspapers and TV channels have been losing on advertising revenue after the entry of big technology companies. He said print and electronic media companies spend thousands of crores of rupees on news content creation. ” ” The main source of income of traditional print and electronic media is advertising revenue, he said with the emergence of  tech companies, a large chunk of advertising revenue was moving towards them. ” ” Citing data, he said Google India's income from advertisement during 2021-22 was 24,927 crore rupees and that of Facebook was 16,189 crore rupees, which were 75 per cent more over the preceding year. ” ” The senior BJP leader stressed there is a need to mandate such companies to share the revenue income with original news content creators. A provision in this regard should be made in the proposed Digital India Act. ” ” V Sivadasan of CPI-M accused the central government of not creating jobs in the country. He said a large number of vacancies were pending in various departments, and even the number of employees in the Central Public Sector Enterprises have significantly come down. ” ” In the first action against unruly MPs since Jagdeep Dhankhar took over as chairman, Congress MP Rajani Ashokrao Patil was on Friday suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the current Budget session for filming House proceedings. ” ”Right at the start of the day, Dhankhar expressed displeasure at MPs not following rules and indicated of action against those who filmed the ruckus that opposition parties created during the reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on motion thanking the President for her address to Parliament. ” ” Later, Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal moved a motion seeking suspension of Patil, after which the Chairman gave floor to leaders of various political parties to air the views on the issue. ” ” Rajani Patil, in her defence, said she is ready to be "rusticated" for not just this but the entire year as she strongly felt that BJP humilates opposition party MPs. ” ”The way the discussion are taking place, I feel if a mistake has been committed by someone unknowingly, if you give such a big punishment by taking name…Someone who comes from the family of freedom fighters…has no right to stay here," she said. "If you want, you can, for not just this session but for the rest of the sessions, rusticate me and I can even give resignation," she said. ” ” Dhankhar said that Patil "is suspended for the remaining period of the current session and till there is report available for consideration of the House from the privileges committee, I put this motion for consideration of this house". ” ” He added: "Taking note of the sentiment of the House, it is hereby directed that all steps be taken that are applicable for a member who is under suspension and this will be effective during the remaining period of the current session subject to a report being made avaialable by the privileges committee for considertion of this House," Dhankhar said. ” ” Dhankhar further said a suggestion had been made that an immediate investigation by outside agencies be undertaken, but that he had categorically ruled it out. ” ”When Modi was replying to the motion of thanks on President Address yesterday, opposition MPs had trooped into the well of the House, shouting slogans all through the 90-minute speech as they felt the questions they asked remained answered. ” ” Ranjeet Ranjan of Congress alleged there is partiality against the opposition members in coverage of the upper house proceedings by Rajya Sabha TV. The issues raised by the opposition are not shown. "There should be also enquiry as to whether such a video was made viral just to defame the opposition," she said. ” ” While moving the motion, Piyush Goyal said:"An unfortunate incident has happened yesterday where it has been found that on social media, we are seeing video recorded in this august house, in a very very unfortunate manner showing senior members of the parliament in poor light." ” The video was unauthorisedly recorded by the member during the proceedings of the house and has been demonstrated and distributed through social media. It is also showing members of the principal opposition in poor light, he said. ” ” Any such action done by any member to record and distribute on social media is of "serious concern" and members of parliament have already complained to Chairman about this incident, he pointed out. ” ” This has brought disrepute to the entire august house and members and chair," he said adding this incident has happened despite several warnings given to all members even during the time of former chairman venkaiah Naidu, who had categorially expressed his serious unhappiness. ” ” Goyal, leader of the house, further requested the Chairman "to name the member, who was involved in this act" and empahsised that appropriate action should be taken for befitting the regards for the chair and rules of the house in this case. ” Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the Chair has the authority to decide but urged not to take decisions based on the pressure of the treasury bench. ” He suggested that after the inquiry, if the individual has been found guilty she could be warned or made to understand instead of taking harsh action. ”

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Review of proceedings in Parliament