News Analysis India

Tag: Parliament

  • Almost recovered, will attend Parliament by March: Union Minister Shripad Naik

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Union AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik on Sunday said he was “confident” he would attend the next session of Parliament starting in March as he had “almost recovered” from the injuries he received in a vehicle accident last month.

    In the accident, which took place in neighbouring Karnakata on January 12, Naik’s wife and close aide were killed.

    “I am confident I would be able to attend the next session of Parliament starting in March,” Naik, Lok Sabha member from North Goa, told PTI from hospital.

    “I have almost recovered. Only 25 per cent of recovery is left. I should be discharged within the next eight days. It was a miraculous recovery due to the blessings of God and efforts of the doctors at Goa Medical College and Hospital,” Naik said.

    Naik said he was clearing work-related files from his hospital bed and sending reports required during the ongoing session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

    He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reduced his workload post the accident.

  • First part of budget session to end on February 13: Sources

    Leaders of various parties attending the meeting assured that there would be full participation in all the debates and discussions in the House, sources said.

  • Congress to raise WhatsApp chat leak to corner govt in Parliament

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Congress has decided to corner the Centre in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament over the farmers’ agitation against the new agri laws, Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami’s alleged WhatsApp chat leaks and the Covid-19 vaccination drive.

    The Congress Working Committee (CWC) passed resolutions on the three issues at its meeting on Friday and demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the purported WhatsApp chats of Goswami for breach of national security and violations of Official Secrets Act and book those involved. 

    “The CWC demands a time-bound investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee to enquire into the breach of national security, violations of Official Secrets Act and the role of the persons involved. Ultimately, those who are guilty of treacherous behaviour must be brought before the law and punished,” the CWC resolution said.

    “Very recently there have been very disturbing reports on how national security has been so thoroughly compromised.  I think just a few days back, Antony ji had said that leaking of official secrets of military operations is treason.

    Yet the silence from the government’s side on what has been revealed has been deafening.  Those who give certificates of patriotism and nationalism to others now stand totally exposed,” Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said at the CWC meeting.  The party has also decided to reach out to other like-minded opposition parties to build pressure on the NDA government as the House convenes later this month. 

    ‘National security compromised’The Congress Working Committee expresses its grave concern at the revelations “exposing the sordid conversations that have undoubtedly compromised national security”, it said 

  • Centra Vista: Construction work of new Parliament building begins

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The construction work of the new Parliament building started on Friday, over a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project under the government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment plan.

    The new Parliament building will have a triangular shape and is expected to be completed by the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.

    The government plans to hold the monsoon session of Parliament in 2022 in the new building.

    “The construction work of the Parliament building has started,” an official said.

    PM Modi had laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament building on December 10 last year.

    Earlier this week, a 14-member heritage panel gave its approval to the new Parliament building while also giving the go-ahead to the Central Vista redevelopment project.

    The Supreme Court had asked the Centre to seek prior approval from the panel and other relevant authorities before starting the construction of the new building.

    The construction work could not start earlier as the government had assured the Supreme Court that no construction or demolition work would commence till the apex court decided the pending pleas on the issue.

    The new building is being constructed by Tata Projects Ltd.

    The project is estimated to cost Rs 971 crore.

    Tata Projects Ltd. said despite the 35-day delay in the commencement of the construction work, it is confident that it will be able to deliver the project on or before time.

    “Our plans of action are already in place to accelerate the schedule by augmenting resources like skilled manpower and formwork etc,” said Sandeep Navlakhe, vice president and business unit head of Tata Projects Ltd.

    “Our reinforcement required to be placed in the raft and walls are already made ready. Other off-site activities like procurement of stone for external cladding, MEP LLEs, carpets, etc. happened during these 35 days. We are more than confident that we will be able to deliver this building to the nation on or before time,” he said.

    The new structure will come up in front of the existing Parliament that was built nearly 94 years ago at a cost of Rs 83 lakh at that time and would eventually be turned into a museum.

    The new Parliament building will house larger Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha halls with capacities of 888 seats and 384 seats to accommodate an expanded Parliament after the freeze on its expansion lifts in 2026.

    The Lok Sabha Hall will also have an additional capacity, up to 1,272 seats, to host joint sessions.

    According to the plan, provisions will be made in furniture for smart displays and biometrics for ease of voting with an intuitive and graphical interface, digital language interpretation and recording infrastructure to produce real-time metadata, programmable microphones that put the control of managing the house with the Speaker.

    Besides the new Parliament building, the redevelopment of the Central Vista — the nation’s power corridor — envisages a common central secretariat, revamping of the 3-km Rajpath from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, new Prime Minister’s Residence and Prime Minister’s Office, and a new Vice-President Enclave.

  • PM Narendra Modi must speak more often in Parliament: Pranab Mukherjee in last book

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi must listen to the dissenting voices and speak more often in Parliament, using it as a forum to disseminate his views to convince the Opposition and inform the nation, felt former president Pranab Mukherjee.

    According to Mukherjee, the mere physical presence of the prime minister in Parliament makes a tremendous difference to the functioning of this institution.

    “Whether it was Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh, each of these former PMs made their presence felt on the floor of the House.

    “PM Modi, now in his second term, must take inspiration from his predecessors and provide visible leadership, through his enhanced presence in Parliament to avoid situations that had precipitated the parliamentary crisis we witnessed in the first term,” Mukherjee wrote in his memoir “The Presidential Years, 2012-2017” which he completed before his death last year.

    The book, published by Rupa Publications, released on Tuesday.

    Modi, Mukherjee said, must “listen to the dissenting voices and speak more often in Parliament.

    He must use it as a forum to disseminate his views to convince the Opposition and inform the nation”.

    He said during the UPA years, he would resolve difficult issues by remaining in constant touch with the leader of the Opposition and senior leaders of both the UPA and the NDA.

    “My job was to run the House, even if it meant meeting and convincing members of the Opposition alliance. I would be present at all times in the House in order to defuse contentious issues, whenever they arose.”

    But he lamented that the NDA government, during its first term of 2014-19, failed in its primary responsibility to ensure the smooth and proper functioning of Parliament.

    “I attribute the acrimonious exchanges between the Treasury and Opposition benches to the arrogance and inept handling by the government. But the Opposition is not without blame either. It had also behaved irresponsibly,” he wrote.

    Mukherjee said he had consistently maintained that disruption hurts the Opposition more than the government, as a disruptive Opposition loses the moral authority to put the government on the mat.

    “It also gives the executive an undue advantage to curtail Parliament sessions on the pretext of the prevailing chaos.”

    According to the former president, the moral authority to govern vests with the prime minster.

    “The overall state of the nation is reflective of the functioning of the PM and his administration. While Dr Singh was preoccupied with saving the coalition, which took a toll on governance, Modi seemed to have employed a rather autocratic style of governance during his first term, as seen by the bitter relationship among the government, the legislature and the judiciary,” he wrote.

    “Only time will tell if there is a better understanding on such matters in the second term of this government. It is also important for the government to keep in mind the demands and aspirations of the section of the population that has not voted for it, because the government represents and belongs to all sections of the people, regardless of their voting preference,” he added.

  • Central Vista a case of misplaced priorities, says Congress

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Soon after the Supreme Court cleared the deck for the ambitious Central Vista project on Tuesday, the Congress said the project is not a legal issue but a case of misplaced priorities of “an autocrat seeking to etch his name in the annals of history”.

    The opposition party also described the project as “a colossal waste of public money” in times of the coronavirus pandemic and an economic recession.

    The Congress has been opposing the Central Vista project that involves the construction of a new Parliament building by 2022.

    In a majority verdict, the Supreme Court upheld the environmental clearance and the notification for change in land use for the project on Tuesday.

    The Central Vista revamp, announced in September 2019, envisages a new triangular Parliament building with a seating capacity of 900 to 1,200 MPs that is to be constructed by August 2022, when the country will be celebrating its 75th year of independence.

    A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, by a 2:1 majority, held that the grant of the environmental clearance and the notification for change in land use for the project was valid.

    “The Rs 13,450 crore Central Vista Project is not a legalistic issue but a case of ‘misplaced priorities’ of a ‘whimsical autocrat’ seeking to etch his name in the annals of history with cement and mortar,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala wrote on Twitter.

    A senior spokesperson of the party Anand Sharma said, “We are living in strange times. No relief for the migrant labour, no Justice for India’s farmers fighting for their rights in bitter cold, pouring rain, tear gas and braving lathis.

    As we approach ‘Ganatantra Diwas’ need to reflect on state of Republic. ” Surjewala said it is ironical that in the times of a pandemic and an economic recession, the authorities in Delhi have Rs 14,000 crore for the Central Vista project and Rs 8,000 crore for buying aircraft for the prime minister.

    “But the same BJP Government imposes cuts of Rs 37,530 Crore in allowances of 113 Lakh Armed Forces and Central Government employees and pensioners.

    “PM must not forget that he has imposed cuts of Rs 11,000 Crore on 15 lakh soldiers and 26 lakh military pensioners,” he said.

    “And the same BJP Government at the Centre has no time to provide ‘heated tents and equipment’ to our soldiers braving brazen Chinese incursions in Ladakh,” the Congress leader said in a series of tweets.

    Sharma said, “Saddened by Supreme court endorsement of Government’s misplaced priorities during the Pandemic and clearing the Central vista project – an unnecessary and colossal waste of public money.

    ” “Grand building of brick and mortar do not strengthen Parliamentary democracy but only a healthy functioning parliament that upholds the Constitution and defends citizen’s rights,” the deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha said.

    Another Congress spokesperson, Jaiveer Shergill, said, “Hope Hon’ble Supreme Court along with giving green signal for New Parliament would have passed orders to ensure BJP follows norms of Parliamentary Democracy including holding of session to discuss laws, respect sanctity of Parliamentary committees & giving space to opposition.

  • Cabinet committee recommends Parliament’s Budget session from January 29

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has recommended that the Budget session of Parliament commence from January 29 and conclude on April 8.

    According to the Committee’s recommendation, while Part 1 of the Budget session would be held from January 29 to February 15, Part 2 would be from March 8 to April 8.

    President Ram Nath Kovind would address the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on January 29, a Friday, and the Union Budget wold be presented on February 1, sources said citing the CCPA recommendations.

    All COVID-related protocols would be followed during the session, the sources said.

    The final decision on the commencement of the session will be taken by the Union Cabinet of Ministers.

  • PM has ‘fled’ his ‘open book Rafale exam’ in Parliament: Rahul

    Escalating his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the the Rafale deal issue, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Thursday said it seems the PM has “fled” his “open book Rafale exam” in Parliament and is instead lecturing students in Punjab.
    Gandhi’s attack came a day after he said Modi faced an open book exam on the deal in Parliament and asked if he will show up at the exam or send a proxy.
    The Congress president had Wednesday also tweeted four questions related to the Rafale deal and demanded answers from the prime minister.
    “So it seems our PM has fled Parliament & his own open book Rafale exam & is instead lecturing students at Lovely University in Punjab, today,” Gandhi tweeted on Thursday.
    He also urged students at the university to ask the prime minister to answer the four questions posed by him.
    Gandhi had tweeted, “Here are the exam questions in advance: Q1. Why 36 aircraft, instead of the 126 the IAF needed? Q2. Why 1,600 Cr instead of 560 Cr per aircraft. Q4. Why AA instead of HAL? Will he show up? Or send a proxy?”
    He later tweeted another question, terming it as “The Missing Q3!”.
    In the third question, he asked the prime minister to tell why former defence minister Manohar Parrikar keeps a Rafale file in his bedroom and what’s in it.