Farmers Movement Archive

'UPA passed 1 bill every 4 minutes': Govt comeback on 'no discussion' charge

The Centre on Thursday lashed out at Opposition parties for protesting on road in the national capital and alleged that "anarchy" has always been the their agenda. But despite the disruptions, the number of bills passed per day during this session in Rajya Sabha was the second highest since 2014, said Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi and Anurag Thakur at a press conference.The ministers said that the time lost due to interruptions/adjournments till August 11 was 76 hours 26 minutes, with the daily average being 4 hours 30 minutes.But in the face of all the chaos and disruption, 22 bills were passed in the both houses of Parliament, including two appropriation bills relating to the supplementary demands for grants for 2021-22 and the demands for excess grants for 2017-2018. The ministers said that this reflects the commitment, productivity and ability of the central government to drive legislative agenda in Parliament, which aims to fulfill the aspirations of its citizens.Nineteen of these bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha, including the crucial constitutional amendment bill on OBC reservation, the ministers said. All these bills were in national interest and will benefit the poor, OBCs, workers, entrepreneurs and all sections of the society, the ministers further said.They also took a jibe at the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, which was in power from 2004 to 2014, saying they passed 18 bills in a hasty manner. This was in response to Opposition allegation that the government is passing the bills without any discussion.In a release issued after the ministers' press conference, the government listed the bills which were passed by the preceding dispensation at the Centre. These included the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, which was passed in 2006 in just three minutes, the release said. On an average, the Centre said, the UPA government passed 17 bills in 72 mins, or one bill approximately every four minutes.On August 7, 2006, the Lok Sabha passed the Government Securities Bill in just 14 minutes; in 2007, the National Institution of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) bill was passed in four minutes, while Banking Regulation (Amendment) and National Tax Tribunal (Amendment) bills were cleared in five minutes, it further said.The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill was cleared in just two minutes on March 19, 2007, the government further said.During the recently-concluded monsoon session of Parliament, the Opposition forced adjournments in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over their demands including repeal of three farm laws and probe into allegations of surveillance using Pegasus spyware.The session was curtailed two days before its scheduled end date (of August 13) due to Opposition ruckus.

Hindustan Times

12-08-2021

India