Farmers Movement Archive

LS, RS clear crucial bills, hold question hour amid protests

NEW DELHI: Both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday passed crucial bills amid chaotic scenes of disruptions, adjournments and protests by opposition MPs over Pegasus issue, farm laws and price rise. In Rajya Sabha, the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Amendment Bill 2021 Bill was passed without a debate as protesting members continued to shout slogans and many occupied the Well demanding a discussion on the snooping issue and among others. Amendments to the bill make way for significant changes that give the district and additional district magistrates the power to issue adoption orders and monitor the functioning of various agencies including Child Welfare Committees and district child protection unit that are responsible for implementation of the JJ Act. In Lok Sabha, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill was passed without debate, providing for a pre-packaged resolution process for stressed MSMEs. The bill was moved by junior minister for corporate affairs Rao Inderjit Singh and passed in under 10 minutes and without discussion as opposition members continued their protests. Lok Sabha also passed the supplementary demand for grants moved by Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Amendments to the IBC Bill will enable government to notify the threshold of a default not exceeding Rs 1 crore for initiation of the pre-packaged resolution process. The government has already prescribed the threshold of Rs 10 lakh for this purpose. The business was transacted between six adjournments. In the morning, Lok Sabha took up Question Hour amid continued slogan-shouting by Opposition members. The protests intensified in the afternoon with some Congress MPs seen throwing papers at the Chair and at the Treasury benches while protesting against the Pegasus snooping row and other issues. The government said it was likely to move suspension notices against 10 opposition MPs, mostly from Congress, for repeatedly disrupting the House. However, opposition MPs met Speaker Om Birla to apologise. Even amid din, Rajya Sabha also conducted the business during Question Hour. Deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh allowed members to ask questions and ministers to respond to the queries for around 40-45 minutes. As soon as the House started business in the first half, members from opposition parties displayed placards and started shouting slogans against the Pegasus snooping allegations and three farm laws. Protesting members shouted slogans in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam against the government and demanded the Prime Minister to come to the House and address the concerns.

The Times of India

2021-07-29

India