REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS

The highlight in the Rajya Sabha today was the passage of three bills relating to Jammu and Kashmir. ” ” The House cleared the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 with voice vote paving the way for their passage in Parliament. ” ” The upper house also cleared a bill to add four groups including Paddari Tribe, and Pahari Ethnic Group in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ” The house approved the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which adds four communities — Gadda Brahmin, Koli, Paddari Tribe, and Pahari Ethnic Group — to the Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ” The Lok Sabha had cleared the bills earlier this week. ” ” The Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill-2024 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. ” ” The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, adds Valmiki community as a synonym of Chura, Balmiki, Bhangi, and Mehtar communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. ” ” The three bills were taken simultaneously for discussion and passage. ” ” Replying to the discussion on the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda said the bills seek to give justice to the communities who were demanding Scheduled Tribes status for long. ” ” "The scrapping of Article 370 has allowed us to bring these laws," he noted. ” ” Replying on the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityananda Rai said the government has taken several steps for the welfare of the Other Backward Classes in the union territory and the current amendment is one more step in that direction. ” ” There are three main amendments to the bill. Firstly, the bill ensures reservation for OBCs in panchayats and municipal bodies in Jammu and Kashmir. Secondly, the state election commission will be incharge of conducting elections to Panchayats and Municipalities, he said. ” ” The removal process of state election commissioner will be as per the Constitutional provisions and can only be removed under circumstances similar to those of a judge of a High Court, he said. ” ” The minister also listed out the development works undertaken after removal of Article 370 in the union territory and said Jammu & Kashmir is now peaceful and is on the path of development. ” ” He said the incidents of terrorist activities and stone pelting have come down. ” ” Replying to the discussion on The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar said the communities will get the benefits of so many schemes with the passing of the bills. ” ” We do not do vote-bank politics but try to strengthen the weaker section of the society, he said. ” ” Currently, there is no provision for reservation of seats for OBCs in panchayats and municipalities in Jammu and Kashmir. ” ” Earlier, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar announced the government's decision to award Bharat Ratna to former prime ministers Chaudhary Charan Singh and P V Narasimha Rao and agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan. ” ” He said it is an honour to announce the prestigious award to the personalities for their contributions in the respective fields. ” ” "When Bharat Ratna is given it is an honour not only for the person but the entire nation," Dhankhar said. ” ” He further said it is a matter of satisfaction and joy for every Indian. ” ” The government had earlier announced the country's highest civilian honour for L K Advani and Karpoori Thakur. ” ” During the discussion on the bills, some opposition members raised apprehensions that the government is trying to dilute reservation policy while referring to the recent draft guidelines by the University Grants Commission on filling reserved posts in higher education institutes. ” ” Jawhar Sircar of Trinamool Congress expressed apprehension the reservation policy is being nibbled away and is sought to be diluted by the present government. ” ” The upper house also passed The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means), Bill, 2024. The bill seeks to curb malpractices in government recruitment examinations. ” ” The bill also seeks to sternly deal 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 . ” ” The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill on Tuesday. ” ” The upper house also passed The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means), Bill, 2024. The bill seeks to curb malpractices in government recruitment exams. ” ” The bill seeks to sternly deal 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. The Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill on Tuesday. ” ” Union minister Jitendra Singh said the bill essentially deals with those who tend to manipulate examinations for government jobs. ” ” This legislation is also the first of its kind in Indian Parliament, he said, adding that it addresses a recent phenomenon. ” ” The bona fide job aspirant or student has been kept out of the purview of this bill and there will be no harm to job aspirants. ” ” Earlier during zero hour, TDP Member of Parliament K Ravindra Kumar demanded the Centre takes steps for revival of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and review its decision to divest government stake. ” ” The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in January 2021 given in-principle approval for 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of the government shareholding in RINL — also called Visakhapatnam Steel Plant or Vizag Steel — along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures. ” ” He said subsequent to the decision of the government, there is much discontent among crores and crores of people of Andhra Pradesh. Employees and union of the plant are staging demonstrations and protesting against the decision. ” ” The request to reconsider the government decision has been made in different fora by people's representatives, Kumar said.  ” ” Deepender Singh Hooda of Congress, Sujeet Kumar of Biju Janata Dal, P Wilson of DMK, Naresh Bansal, Kanta Kardam both BJP, Saket Gokhale of TMC also participated in the discussion.  ” ” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today blasted the previous Congress-led UPA government for its mismanagement of the economy saying the party put "family first" and left the country in "dire straits" in 2014, but it is now lecturing the Modi government on handling the economy. ” ” Initiating the debate on the 'White Paper on Indian economy and its impact on the lives of people of India' in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the Modi government put "nation-first", and took the economy from 'fragile five' to 'top five'. ” ” India is now on the way to become the third largest global economy, she said. ” ” Amid constant bickering by the Congress members, Sitharaman said the White Paper is for record of posterity and the youth should know what efforts Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put in to restore India's past glory. ” ” "Ten years of one government with some crisis and 10 years of a different government with a different crisis. The comparison shown in this 'White Paper' clearly says how if the government handles it with true sincerity, transparency and putting the nation first, the results are there for everybody to see," Sitharaman said. ” ” She also said, "When you don't put the nation first, when you put your first family first, and when you have other consideration than transparency, the results are out there for you to see. So what happened after 2008 when there was a global financial crisis and what happened post-Covid shows clearly that if the intent of the government is sincere, results will be good." ” ” The Minister’s speech that was interrupted by the opposition members, said the Covid crisis was much "deadlier" than the global financial crisis of 2008, but the Modi government handled it with sincerity, transparency and dedication providing free vaccines to people. ” ” Further, the minister said UPA government in 2008 did not have a "clean" intention in dealing with the crisis. ” ” "During the global financial crisis, Congress did nothing to protect the interest of nation and scandals after scandals continued to take place. They left the nation in dire straits in 2014. God knows what would have happened had they continued…They were unable to save the Indian economy. Those who could not handle the global financial crisis are now lecturing us on how to deal with a crisis… ," she said. ” ” Referring to the coal scam during UPA, she cited the CAG report to say that it resulted in a huge loss of 1.86 lakh crore rupees to the country and the Supreme Court had to cancel licences of 214 coal blocks. ” ” The coal scam resulted in job losses, created coal shortage and power outages, she said, adding that investments too suffered. ” ” On the other hand, the Modi government conducted coal auctions in a transparent manner and now coal production has increased to 900 Metric Tonnes from 567 Metric Tonnes in 2014. ” ” "You turned coal into ashes, but the Modi government through its policies turned coal into diamonds," she said, adding that the Congress is now shredding "crocodile tears" even though coal bearing states had suffered revenue losses as a result of the scam during their time. ” ” Having given coal mines to the family members, friends and even a gutkha company, Sitharaman said the Congress is now giving us lecture on crony capitalism". ” ” She also said that India witnessed the Commonwealth Games scam during UPA rule which brought "bad name" to the country, whereas G20 hosted by the Modi government was appreciated and lauded across the world. In the banking sector, Sitharaman said the practice of phone banking during UPA time led to an increase in bad loans. ” ” The Modi government took a host of decisions and now the Non-Performing Assets of public sector banks have declined to 3.2 per cent and their profitability has soared to 1.08 lakh crore rupees. ” ” Opposition members Saugata Roy of TMC and N K Premchandran of RSP objected to the discussion on the White Paper asserting that it was an attempt to defame the previous UPA government. ” ” On repeated interruptions by the Opposition members, Sitharaman said "if you have the courage, you should not interrupt my speech… give a reply". ” ” Nishikant Dubey of BJP participating the discussion on the White Paper, alleged that the Congress and its allies are blind to corruption and nepotism, and were only looking at ways to defend the misdeeds during their 10 year tenure in the government. ” ” He said the time period between 1947 and 1990 can be dubbed as 'licence-permit raj' while the period between 2004-2014 as 'loot raj'. ” ” Dubey claimed that the period between 2014 and 2024 when the BJP ruled the country for two terms can be described as 'Ram raj'. ” ” He alleged that the then prime minister Manmohan Singh was never given a free hand to run the government and was at times not aware of decisions being taken by the government. ” ” Dubey also referred to a kin of a top Congress leader alleging he was involved in corruption. ” ” This evoked a strong reaction from the opposition benches. ” ” He also alleged that an "illicit money" corridor from Bangladesh to Jharkhand was functioning to help a particular political party whose single-point agenda is the Muslim vote bank. ” ” Manish Tewari of Congress called the White Paper brought by the government a "political manifesto", adding that the UPA enacted Acts like the Right to Information, Right to Education, Right to Food and MGNREGA that strengthened the social, political and economic foundation of the country. ” ” Participating in the debate on the White Paper, Tewari said the finance minister should talk about the achievements of her government instead. ” ” He called the White Paper a "political manifesto", and said that was proved by its timing ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. ” ” "If you wanted to bring a White Paper, you should have brought it in 2014. The intention behind this White Paper is only political. This is a political manifesto, not a white paper." Tewari said. ” ” He said the UPA government under Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made "fundamental corrections that strengthened the social, political and economic foundation of the country." ” ” "The first was the Right to Information, 130 crore people got RTI. They could get information from block to national level. Unfortunately, from 2014 to 2024, the RTI has been dismantled. ” ” "The second big achievement was Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). ” ” "The third was the Right to Education… fourth the National Food Security Act and the fifth was Aadhaar, which laid the foundation and when the UPA left the government, over 80 crore Aadhaar cards had been made," he said.  ” ” "I want to ask what is your achievement? If you think demonetisation, or GST, which destroyed small and medium industry, are achievements, I leave it to your wisdom," he said. ” ” Participating in the debate, Rajiv Ranjan Singh of JD-U 'Lallan' hit out at the opposition for its claim that the Modi government was targeting their leaders using probe agencies. ” ” He said when his parry was out of the ruling NDA, CBI and ED never came after leaders of his party, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. ” ” Singh said while former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a "clean" person, those around him were involved in corruption and mismanagement. ”   ” He claimed the former PM was a "mute spectator" to the things going around him. ” ” He said his party was out of NDA and its leader Nitish Kumar was an anchor of the opposition parties. ” ” But neither he nor Kumar were targeted by CBI or ED. "If you indulge in corruption, you'll have to pay the price. You will get thorn not a sweet mango," he said. ” ” After quitting NDA nearly two years ago, the JD (U) recently rejoined the ruling dispensation. ” ” He also rejected claims of the opposition that the white paper was aimed at tarnishing its image. He said the facts and figures have been placed before the House hence there was no question of tarnishing someone's image. ” ” Participating in the debate on the White paper, Gaurav Gogoi of Congress accused the NDA government of being an "expert in event management" and alleged that the white paper is an "election stunt". ” ” The Assam MP accused BJP of sheltering the corrupt people and misusing the ED to target the opposition. ” ” Gogoi alleged that the Enforcement Directorate has become a part of the BJP and is being misused for "politically motivated raids". ” ” Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress alleged that there has not been a bigger scam than demonetisation and finance minister should apologise to the country for the same. ” ” "Before bringing such a white paper, the finance minister should have aplogised to the country for demonetisation…a scam of this magnitude has not happened in the history…they used to say that the black money will be brought back. ” ” He said, 150 crore people struggled in queues and now they are making tall claims…if they are against corruption where are the economic offenders hiding abroad….you have a law for fugitive economic offenders then why are they are not being brought back," he said. ” ” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the COVID-19 virus got mutated 223 times in the world and its harmful effects have come done substantially over time. ”   ” He also said that COVID-19 will continue to remain like influenza and its present variants are not deadly. ” ” "When a virus gets mutated more than 100 times, its harmful effects get reduced. Covid also got mutated. So far, the Covid virus got mutated 223 times," he said. ” ” He said that like influenza, which hits people once or twice every year, "Covid is with us and it will remain". ” ” "Covid sub-variants are not that deadly and there are no negative effects," he said. ” ”  Mandaviya said health is such an issue where all stake holders and countries should come together and work. ” ” The minister said India has a robust medicine production infrastructure and the world has recognised this. "We are now the producer of 70 per cent of HIV/AIDS medicines of the world. Similarly, we produce many medicines which the world considers as good," he said. ” ” Speaker Om Birla also commented that when he was travelling in Africa, he had witnessed the demands of Indian medicines and people's admiration for it due to its effects. ” ” Mandaviya said that due to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, under which free medical treatment up to 5 lakh rupees is provided to the poor, 13 crore people were benefited as they have gone above the poverty level since they did not have to spend money for treatment. ” ” Similar, during the tenure of the previous government, 5.5 crore people came under the poverty line as they had to spend a large amount of money for medical care, he said. ” ” The minister said the Modi government is now spending 1.35 per cent of the GDP in comparison to 1.13 per cent spent by the earlier government. ” ” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has cautioned members against taking the name of a particular institution or organisation while raising an issue and said MPs should discuss only policy matters. ” ” The advice came when Ritesh Pandey of Bahujan Samaj Party raised the issue of a medical college and its application for recognition for starting a postgraduate course. ” ” Union Minister of State for Health S P Singh Baghel said the National Medical Commission independently takes decisions on giving recognition to any medical course in any medical college. ” ” After the Modi government came to power in 2014, the number of medical college has gone up to to 700 from 350, he said. ” ” Similarly, seats in undergraduate courses in medical colleges have increased by over 100 per cent and by over 126 per cent in postgraduate courses, the minister said. ” ” The government, he said, is also following the policy of setting up one medical college in each district of the country.

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REVIEW OF TODAY’S PARLIAMENT PROCEEDINGS