Farmers Movement Archive

Monsoon session brought to early close amid turmoil

The monsoon session of Parliament, characterised by strident protests by the Opposition, repeated disruptions that made it among the worst sittings in terms of time, a focused and accelerated push of key laws by the government, and plain acrimony, came to a premature end on Wednesday when it was adjourned ahead of schedule.By legislation, it was a good session.The government successfully managed to introduce 15 bills and get Parliament’s approval for 20, although this meant some were passed in minutes with no one other than the minister in charge speaking.By time, it was a bad session.The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha functioned for just 22% and 28% of their allocated time, respectively. The Lok Sabha used just 21 hours and 14 minutes of the stipulated time of 96 hours -- the lowest since the winter session of 2016, when opposition parties took on the government over demonetisation.The Rajya Sabha used 28 hours 21 minutes out of its stipulated 102 hours. In the past 10 years, the Rajya Sabha has functioned for less than 25% of its scheduled time during only six sessions.And in terms of acrimony, it was an ugly session that saw it all -- protests, disruption, suspensions and calls for “exemplary” punishment.Furious and concerted protests by the Opposition -- the session saw the rare sight of coordinated action by them -- against the Pegasus snooping controversy, the contentious farm laws passed last year, and the fuel price rise roiled Parliament.The Opposition wanted a discussion on the first with Prime Minister Narendra Modi or home minister Amit Shah in the House, but got nowhere with its demand. And when the Upper House agreed to talk farming, the Opposition pointed out, it offered a generic discussion on the plight of farmers, not a specific one on the farm laws as was sought. One member of the Rajya Sabha, from the Trinamool Congress, was suspended for the remainder of the session on July 23; on August 4, six members from opposition parties were suspended for a day; and on the penultimate day of the session, the Rajya Sabha saw among the most unruly scenes the House of Elders has likely seen.Across both Houses, there was a fragile peace only on three occasions — the passage of the Constitution amendment bill that empowers states to draw their own list of other backward classes (OBC) in both Houses and the Covid-19 debate in the Upper House.The session ended with Rajya Saba chairman Venkaiah Naidu in tears and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ruing the fact that very little business was done.And, in the dying hours of the monsoon session in Rajya Sabha, furious protests returned once again as the government pushed the Insurance Amendment Bill even as the Opposition sought for it to be sent to a parliamentary panel.Soon after, leader of the House Piyush Goyal said the protests that saw some opposition MPs tear papers, fling files and manhandle the marshals in the House cannot be tolerated. “Just as a special committee was set up in Lok Sabha, a similar committee should be constituted to carry out investigation (into the protests on the floor of the House),” he said.Shortly before the Upper House was adjourned sine die, opposition MPs staged a walkout following a ruckus. They objected to the presence of security personnel during the passage of the insurance amendment Bill. The Opposition has been objecting to how the government has passed key bills without discussion and putting them to vote, even as the proceedings were conducted amid a din.Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said there were more marshals than members present in the House. He alleged the marshals manhandled some of the women MPs and said women were not safe even within Parliament.The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the 127th Constitution amendment bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. During the debate, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan accused the Opposition of creating confusion among the people regarding reservation.The amendment was supported by all parties.Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked the government the reason for not conducting a caste-based census. “We did it in 2011. Why not do it now in 2021?,” he asked, pointing out that a survey is needed because the reservation for backward classes has actually exceeded the defined limits in almost all states. He claimed that the government was hesitating to conduct a survey because it could mean in increase in reservation for OBCsto 35%.A Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lawmaker, Tiruchi Siva, claimed the government was only pushing through the amendment “out of compulsion” and not the desire to “uphold the rights of states and Union Territories”.The Opposition sought some changes in the amendment, including an increase in the ceiling for reservation from the current 50%, but these were denied in a voice vote.The bill was unanimously approved by all 187 members of the Rajya Sabha present on Wednesday .The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha received oral replies to only 51 questions and 66 questions, respectively. But the government replied on 98% matters raised under Rule 377 in the Lok Sabha. The standing committees presented 60 reports to the House in this session and a total of 1,243 papers were laid on the table of the House.

Hindustan Times

12-08-2021

India