News Analysis India

Tag: Monsoon session of Parliament

  • Govt calls all-party meeting on July 19 prior to Monsoon session

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: With the monsoon session of Parliament set to commence on July 20, the government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday.

    The meeting, which is a customary practice prior to the commencement of a Parliament session, is likely to deliberate on a host of issues related to the monsoon session.

    While the government is expected to seek opposition’s cooperation for the smooth operation of the session, protests over the violence in Manipur, Delhi ordinance and a host of other issues is expected by the Congress-led opposition.

    Meanwhile, a similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday by Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar was deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties.

    While opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital.

    NEW DELHI: With the monsoon session of Parliament set to commence on July 20, the government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday.

    The meeting, which is a customary practice prior to the commencement of a Parliament session, is likely to deliberate on a host of issues related to the monsoon session.

    While the government is expected to seek opposition’s cooperation for the smooth operation of the session, protests over the violence in Manipur, Delhi ordinance and a host of other issues is expected by the Congress-led opposition.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Meanwhile, a similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday by Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar was deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties.

    While opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital.

  • Congress refuses to join RS inquiry committee to probe violence in House

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Congress has refused to be a part of the proposed inquiry committee of MPs being set up to investigate the violent incidents that took place in the House during the monsoon session on August 11.

    According to sources, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in a letter to Rajya Sabha chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu, said, “Constituting an inquiry committee on the incidents of August 11, 2021, seems to be designed to intimidate MPs into silence. It will not only suppress the voices of the people’s representatives but will deliberately brush aside all those that are uncomfortable to the government.”

    “I am, therefore, unequivocally against constituting the enquiry committee and the question of a party proposing the name of a member from a party for nomination to this committee does not arise,” he said.

    The Congress leader said the opposition was keen to participate in discussions and claimed that it was the government that obstructed the smooth functioning of the session.

    Kharge, also said in the letter that the government not only brushed aside the opposition parties’ demand for discussion but also rushed through crucial bills and policies, which could potentially have a grave and adverse effect on the country.

    The leader of the opposition pointed out that his party gave multiple notices under the rules of procedure, hoping to have constructive deliberations on the state of India’s economy, farmers protest, inflation, rise in prices of petrol and diesel and other essential commodities, unemployment, China’s violation of India’s territorial integrity, the Pegasus and Rafael scandals among a host of other national issues.

    “It also bypassed standing committees and refused to have any meaningful discussion on bills, policies and issues. Additionally, senior ministers were largely absent from Parliament while opposition MPs were suspended. In doing so, the government undermined the sovereignty of Parliament,” the letter said.

    Kharge also said that he has spoken to other opposition parties in this regard and almost all of them have rejected the inquiry committee proposal.

    On August 11, there was turmoil in the Rajya Sabha with the opposition alleging misbehaviour by marshals, while the ruling party alleged violence against parliament staff and others by opposition MPs.

    Two Congress women MPs, Phulo Devi and Chayya Varma had alleged that they were manhandled during the ruckus in the House.

    As per official sources, an official complaint has been lodged against the MPs who created ruckus in Rajya Sabha during the recently concluded monsoon session.

    At the Rajya Sabha Chairperson and Union ministers’ meet, it was decided that a committee will be formed and action will be taken after discussion.

    All through the session that began on July 19, opposition members forced adjournments in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over their various demands including a probe into allegations of surveillance through Pegasus spyware and repeal of three farm laws.

    Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die two days ahead of the scheduled end of the Monsoon session on August 13. 

  • No transaction with NSO Group: Defence Ministry on the firm at the centre of Pegasus snooping row

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Monday said it did not have any transaction with the NSO Group, the developer of military-grade spy software Pegasus that is in the eye of a huge political firestorm following the snooping controversy allegedly involving the programme.

    The brief written statement on the NSO Group came from Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in response to a question in Rajya Sabha by CPI(M) member V Sivadasan.

    “Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies,” the minister said.

    Sivadasan, as part of a number of questions on expenditure by the defence ministry, also asked whether the government had carried out any transaction with the NSO Group Technologies.

    NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance software company, has been under increasing attack following allegations that its Pegasus phone spyware was used for surveillance on journalists, activists and political leaders in several countries including India.

    NSO has denied any wrongdoing.

    The opposition parties have been targeting the central government over the snooping row and disrupting proceedings in Parliament since it met on July 19 for the Monsoon session.

    The opposition parties have been demanding a discussion on the Pegasus issue in parliament, claiming it has national security implications.

    IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had dismissed media reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, saying the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament were aimed at maligning Indian democracy.

    In a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw had said that with several checks and balances being in place, “any sort of illegal surveillance” by unauthorised persons is not possible in India.

    The controversy erupted after an investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data claimed evidence that the military-grade malware from the NSO Group was being used to spy on politicians, journalists, human rights activists and others.

    In his reply, Bhatt also said that an allocation of Rs 4,04,364 crore was made to the defence ministry in the budget estimate (BE) stage in 2018-19 and the expenditure made during that fiscal by the ministry was Rs 4,03,459 crore.

    The minister said that an outlay of Rs 4,31,010 crore was made at the BE stage in 2019-20 while expenditure against the allocation was Rs 4,51,902 crore.

    In 2020-21, the defence ministry incurred an expenditure of Rs 4,85,726 crore as against an allocation of Rs 4,71,378 crore at the BE stage, he said.

    The percentage of allocation to the defence ministry out of the total budget of the central government for 2018-19 was 16.56 percent while it was 15.47 percent in 2019-20 and 15.49 percent in 2020-21, according to the minister.

    Bhatt said an amount of Rs 45,705 crore was spent in 2018-19 on procurement from foreign sources while the figure for 2019-20 was 47,961.47 crore.

    The ministry spent Rs 53,118 crore in procurement from foreign countries in 2020-21.

  • Parliament passes Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation amendment bill

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill that seeks to ensure that account holders will get up to Rs 5 lakh within 90 days of the RBI imposing moratorium on their banks from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

    The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by a voice vote amid an uproar by Opposition parties over various issues, including the Pegasus snooping row and farm laws.

    The Rajya Sabha passed the bill last week.

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her brief statement, said the legislation will benefit small depositors, including those of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank.

    The benefits will also accrue to the depositors of 23 cooperative banks, which are in financial stress and on which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed certain restrictions, she said.

    Sitharaman said the interest of the small depositors will have to be kept in mind, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased the insurance amount for them from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and within 90 days of moratorium being declared on a bank and also for those who are already under stress, the money will be available.

    Once the bill becomes law, it will provide immediate relief to lakhs of depositors, whose money is parked in stressed lenders such as the PMC Bank and other small cooperative banks.

    According to the current provisions, the deposit insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh comes into play when the licence of a bank is cancelled and the liquidation process starts.

    DICGC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI, provides an insurance cover on bank deposits.

    At present, it takes 8-10 years for the depositors of a stressed bank to get their insured money and other claims.

    Though the RBI and the Centre keep monitoring the health of all banks, there have been numerous recent cases of banks, especially cooperative banks, being unable to fulfil their obligations towards the depositors due to the imposition of a moratorium by the RBI.

    Last year, the government increased the insurance cover on deposits by five times to Rs 5 lakh.

    The enhanced deposit insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh came into effect from February 4, 2020.

    In September 2019, the RBI superseded the board of the PMC Bank and imposed various regulatory restrictions after financial irregularities came to light.

     

  • Lok Sabha adjourned for the day amid protests by opposition members over Pegasus, other issues

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday amid continuous protests by opposition members over Pegasus snooping controversy and other issues.

    As the House reconvened at 2 pm after being adjourned four times before in the day, opposition members trooped into the Well.

    Rama Devi, who was in the Chair, urged the members to go back to their seats and let the discussion on COVID-19 take place.

    As the protesting members were unwilling to relent, the House was adjourned for the day.

    When the House met for the day in the morning, Opposition members sought to raise various issues, including the Pegasus spyware controversy and started shouting slogans following which the proceedings were adjourned till 11:30 am.

    When the Question Hour resumed at 11:30 am, Opposition members trooped into Well.

    Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, asked members to go back to their seats.

    “Question Hour is a medium to discuss issues, please participate in this,” Agrawal said.

    Soon, he adjourned the House till noon.

    When the House met again at noon, Agarwal, who was in the chair allowed papers related to different ministries to be tabled in the House.

    Then he allowed Aayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to introduce The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amidst strong opposition.

    TMC member Saugata Roy said he opposed the introduction of the Homeopathy bill as it would be detrimental to the Homeopathy profession.

    However, Sonowal defended the bill saying it is very important for the country and members should appreciate it.

    Congress leader Manish Tewari said the introduction of bills amidst opposition protests is violation of the Constitution.

    After admission of the two bills, Agarwal allowed Social Justice and Empowerment minister Virendra Kumar to introduce The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021.

    Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury strongly opposed the move and said that the entire opposition has been demanding discussion on the alleged snooping by Pegasus spyware but the government was ignoring the demand.

    Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Meghwal strongly objected it, saying the government was ready for discussion on all issues.

    As protests, continued, Agarwal adjourned the House till 12.

    30 pm.

    When the House met again, the House passed The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2021 and The Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021 amidst strong opposition protests.

    Both the bills were earlier passed by Rajya Sabha.

    The House also passed The Constitution (Schedule Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2021 after a brief discussion amidst opposition protests.

    Soon, the chair adjourned the House till 2 pm.

    Earlier, Speaker Om Birla, on behalf of the House, paid tributes to those who had participated in the Quit India Movement.

    The members also stood in silence for a brief while as a mark of respect to those who took part in that movement.

    The country is celebrating the 79th anniversary of the Quit India Movement that was launched in 1942 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

    Birla also mentioned about India’s performance at the just-concluded Olympic games at Tokyo and congratulated the medal winners.

    Members thumped their desks when the name of Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in javelin throw at the Olympics, was mentioned.

    While noting that winning seven medals was the best ever Olympics performance by India, Birla exuded confidence that the performance would enthuse youngsters.

  • COVID-19: Hazards of not reopening schools too serious to be ignored, says parliamentary panel

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The hazards of not reopening schools after prolonged closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic are “too serious to be ignored”, according to a parliamentary panel.

    The committee has noted that the closure of schools has not only impacted social fabric of families in a negative manner, it has also increased involvement of children in household chores.

    “The closure of schools for over a year has had a deep impact on the wellbeing of students, especially their mental health.

    The hazards of not opening the schools are too serious to be ignored.

    The confinement of young children within the four walls of the house, being unable to attend school, has altered the relationship between the parent and the children adversely.

    “The closure of schools has impacted the social fabric of the family in negative manner leading to early/child marriage and increased involvement of children in household chores.

    The present situation has exacerbated the learning crisis that existed even before the pandemic with the marginal and vulnerable children getting adversely affected.

    Keeping this situation in mind, it becomes all the more imperative to open schools,” the panel has noted.

    This week the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports tabled in Parliament its report “Plans to bridge the learning gap caused due to school lockdown as well as review of online and offline instructions and exams and plans for reopening of schools” headed by Vinay P Sahsrabudhe.

    The seriousness of the matter should not be overlooked and a well balanced reasoned view may be taken for opening up of the schools, the panel said.

    Accentuating vaccine programmes for all students, teachers and allied staff so that schools may start functioning normally at the earliest; holding classes on alternate days or in two shifts to thin out students along with observance of physical distancing and compulsory wearing of face masks at all times, frequent hand sanitization etc; regular thermal screening at the time of attendance and conducting random RT-PCR tests to identify and isolate any infected student, teacher or staff immediately, are among the recommendations for reopening of schools made by the panel.

    “Each school should have at least two oxygen concentrators with trained personnel to address any eventuality and provide first aid till availability of outside medical help.

    Frequent surprise inspection of schools may be done by health inspectors and health workers to ensure strict adherence to hygiene and COVID protocols, the panel said.

    “Best practices being followed in different countries for opening of schools may be taken into consideration for taking an informed decision,” it said.

    The panel has also noted that the learning loss of more than one year due to prolonged school closure in wake of the pandemic would necessarily have weakened the foundational knowledge of students, especially in the subjects of mathematics, sciences and languages, at school level.

    “This learning loss is a big deficit and is likely to impair the cognitive capabilities of students,” the panel said in its report tabled in Parliament on Friday.

    “This might have a debilitating effect on vulnerable sections of the society like poor and rural students, marginalised sections of society and young women who might have been unable to connect to any form of digital education during the pandemic.

    This needs to be addressed and immediate remedial steps required to be taken,” the report said.

    Schools across the country were closed in March last year ahead of nationwide lockdown to contain spread of novel coronavirus.

    While few states began partially reopening schools in October last year, they had to again order school closure in view of the aggressive second wave of COVID-19 in April-May.

     

  • Hopeful IT panel will take up Pegasus; officials may have been instructed to skip last meet: Shashi Tharoor

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Chairman of the parliamentary panel on information technology Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said members “disrupted” the committee’s meeting on July 28 as they did not want the Pegasus allegations to be discussed and the officials who were to testify “appear to have been instructed not to attend”, but expressed hope the snooping issue would be taken up by the panel going forward.

    Tharoor, who has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to take action over ministry officials not attending the panel meet, also asserted that the actions of the three officials making “last-minute excuses” to skip the meeting were a “grievous assault” on such panels’ prerogatives to summon witnesses.

    In an interview with PTI, the Congress leader hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks that the Opposition was insulting Parliament, saying the government’s refusal to be answerable in any way, shape, or form on an issue of national and international importance, has made a “mockery of democracy and of the ordinary Indians the government claims to represent”.

    Avoiding discussion and accountability is the real insult to Parliament, the former Union minister and Thiruvananthapuram MP asserted.

    Asked if going forward the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology will be able to take up the Pegasus snooping issue, Tharoor said for two years now the IT committee has been conducting discussions on “Citizens’ data privacy and security and “cyber security, topics that also featured in its agenda under the previous chairman,P’s Anurag Thakur.

    The Pegasus issue therefore clearly falls under the purview of the IT committee and so it is only expected that its members will ask questions about it when these topics arise, he said.

    “It is no secret that the Committee’s meeting on its established agenda was disrupted byP members who did not want Pegasus to be discussed.

    It was unprecedented for 10 members to attend and to refuse to sign the register in order to deny the Committee a quorum,” Tharoor said.

    The panel was to hold a meeting on July 28 during which several issues including the Pegasus snooping allegations were expected to be discussed.

    It had also summoned officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications) on the subject ”Citizens data security and privacy”.

    However, the meeting could not take place as theP members of the panel did not sign the attendance register, even though they were present in the meeting room, leading to a lack of quorum.

    E-mail communications were received by the committee branch of the secretariat on July 28 afternoon from the three ministries/department that their representatives would not be able to appear before the committee due to Parliament-related work.

    “For good measure the three officials who were to testify that day appear to have been instructed not to attend, making last-minute excuses, which is a grievous assault on the prerogatives of parliamentary committees to summon witnesses,” Tharoor said.

    Asserting that accountability to Parliament is a cornerstone of democracy, Tharoor alleged that it is increasingly being tossed aside in the current regime’s “headlong rush to autocracy”.

    “Despite this disappointing approach, I am hopeful that we will be able to take up the question going forward,” he said.

    Asked if a joint parliamentary committee would be more suited to take up the Pegasus matter, Tharoor said, “I am not sure what a JPC can do that the IT Committee cannot.

    Nonetheless, I proposed from the start that what we really need is a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry headed by a serving or recently-retired judge to conduct a fair, impartial, and thorough investigation of the Pegasus issue.

    ” The judiciary has powers, and a degree of immunity from politics, that would make it better suited than a committee of MPs to explore all aspects of the Pegasus question, Tharoor argued.

    An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers, including that of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, union ministers Prahlad Singh Patel and Ashwini Vaishnaw, businessman Anil Ambani, and at least 40 journalists, were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

    On comparisons of the Pegasus snooping row with the Watergate scandal that rocked Richard Nixon’s US presidency in the 1970s, Tharoor said though the parallels between the two episodes are many, the significant difference is precisely in the consequences it has had for the respective regimes that were in power when these events unfolded.

    “Whereas the US Congress’ investigation of Watergate led to the resignation of President Nixon himself, our Parliament has been denied even a discussion of the issue, barring the tepid statement by the new IT Minister who was himself on the list of those who were potentially targeted using Pegasus on the floor of the House,” Tharoor said.

    He said Pegasus is an issue that, given its grave implications for the country’s internal security and individual liberties, should have been addressed by either the Home Minister or the PM himself.

    Tharoor said the Opposition’s hopes rest with the Supreme Court, which is to hear the matter on Tuesday.

     

  • Lok Sabha adjourned for the day amid Opposition din; retrospective tax bill passed

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day shortly after noon on Friday after passage of two bills, including the one which proposes to end a controversial retrospective tax policy, amid protests by Opposition members over Pegasus and other issues.

    As the House convened for the day at 11 am, Speaker Om Birla took up the Question Hour.

    However, the members resorted to sloganeering over Pegasus snooping controversy and farm laws.

    As the protests continued, the Speaker urged the agitating members to go back to their seats.

    The proceedings lasted for around 15 minutes after which Birla adjourned the House till noon.

    When the House resumed at noon, Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, allowed discussions on ‘The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021’, which proposed amendments to the Income Tax and Finance Act 2012 to make it clear that no tax demand will be raised for any indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken prior to May 28, 2012.

    After a brief statement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and clause-wise consideration of the bill, it was passed by voice vote.

    Similarly, another bill ‘The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2021’, to set up a central university in Ladakh was passed by the House following a brief statement by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

    After the two bills were passed, the chair announced the adjournment of the House for the day.

    Lok Sabha will now resume on Monday after the weekend break.

  • Lok Sabha adjourned till noon amid protest by Opposition members

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till noon on Friday amid protest by Opposition members over Pegasus and other issues.

    As the House convened for the day, Speaker Om Birla took up Question Hour.

    However, the members resorted to sloganeering over Pegasus snooping controversy and farm laws.

    As the protests continued, the Speaker urged the agitating members to go back to their seats.

    The proceedings lasted for around 15 minutes after which Birla adjourned the House till noon.

     

  • Govt not blinking for fear of putting leadership in a spot  

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The Parliament logjam continues to sweat out the presiding officers, with the government refusing to yield even an inch to the Opposition’s demand for discussions on the snooping row and reply by either PM Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah.

    The BJP apparently believes that accepting such conditions may put the top leadership in a spot while emboldening the rivals, who are closing ranks with an eye on 2024 Lok Sabha elections and next year’s state polls. For public posturing, though, the party asserts that the government is ready for discussion on any issue, including Pegasus, and it’s the Opposition that is running away. 

    This line of argument was reiterated by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad at a press conference on Thursday. “When Union minister Ashwani Vaishnav replied, Opposition MPs tore his papers,” he said. While many MPs from non-Congress and non-BJP ranks believe the government has no solution to offer to end the deadlock, NDA floor managers claim that accepting the Opposition’s conditions are out of the question. 

    “The minister concerned replies to discussion under Rule 193. To demand that the PM or the Home Minister should reply is neither in line with norms and conventions nor acceptable. Besides, statements given in the House may expose the top leadership to any future consequences since the full account of the snooping issue is still not known,” said a senior BJP leader.

    The government is also unfazed since it has managed to get the bills, some of them contentious, passed without Parliament scrutiny.  The BJP has, in fact, stepped up the heat against the opposition, particularly the Congress, over the disruptions. “Having dominated Parliament for the longest time since 1947, it is ironic that the Congress has the least respect for parliamentary ethos and proceedings,” said a BJP release. Taking “a walk down the history lane”, the party said that “till the interests of one dynasty are safeguarded, Parliament is ‘allowed’ to function”.