Review of Proceedings in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: Proceedings of Rajya Sabha on Friday began with a reference to Human Rights Day by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.  In his reference, the Chairman said, as legislators, it is our duty to uphold Democracy, Freedom, and Justice for all.

After the laying of papers, the Chairman said that he has received notices from K C Venugopal and Syed Nasir Hussein both Congress for suspension of business to discuss an issue. He, however, said that he has not accepted the notices as they are not as per the requirement of rules.

Jawahar Sircar of the Trinamool Congress sought to raise the issue of the arrest of the national spokesperson of the party.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar appealed to members to raise the issues as per the rules. I would appeal to the members to follow the rules scrupulously, ‘he said.

During the Zero Hour, Sushi Kumar Modi of the BJP called for the implementation of the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission to reserve two seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for Kashmiri Pandits.

Mohammed Nadimul Haque of the Trinamool Congress called for simplification of the process of heirs claiming their inheritance in banks.

G V L Narasimha Rao of BJP called for developing Visakhapatnam as a major IT destination.

Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD sought to raise the issue of the delay in compensation to victims of the Lakhimpur incident. One year has passed and no action has been taken in this regard, ‘he said.

Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party raised the issue of difficulties faced by pilgrims wanting to visit Kartarpur Sahib while Ashok Vajpayee of the BJP raised concerns about increasing fires in buildings.

Fauzia Khan of the NCP raised concern about the conditions of those facing life-threatening rare diseases and looking for a cure in various Centres of Excellence.

Satish Chandra Dubey of BJP expressed concern about rampant incidents of loot and murder in Bihar.

V Sivadasan of the CPI-M raised concerns about the conditions of public libraries while Neeraj Dangi of the Congress called for the implementation of the scheme of MPs adopting villages.

Amar Patnaik of the BJD expressed concern about rising incidents of cybercrime in the country while Vijaysai Reddy of the YSR Congress party called for increasing reservations for backward classes from 27 per cent to 50 per cent.

During the Question Hour, Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, replying to a Question, said that the Government is taking all steps to contain the trade deficit between India and China, including promoting Make in India in the country.

He said that the trade deficit with China, which stood at just one billion dollars in 2003, rose to 51 billion dollars in 2013-14.

He said that the Government’s make in India initiative has spurred domestic manufacturing in the country. Today there are 200 Indian companies engaged in domestic manufacturing of mobiles, ‘he said.

In reply to another question pertaining to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs,  Food and Public Distribution, Mr. Piyush Goyal, who is also in charge of the Ministry, said that India produces 23 per cent of the total milk production of the World.

Around 2000 lakh tonnes of oil was produced in 2021,’ he said.

He said that the Government is taking all steps to keep milk prices in check.

In reply to a Question, he said, the Government has eliminated hunger and starvation in India. Referring to the release of the world Hunger index, he said, it was a report brought out by a private NGO and if not a reflection of the situation in the country.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that one needs to be circumspect about such reports and rather believe in ourselves.

There was an uproar in the house when Piyush Goyal, criticized the Ghar Ghar Rashan scheme of the Aam Aadmi Party Government in Delhi. He was replying to a question by Sanjay Singh of AAP.
Suvendu Sekhar Roy of the TMK raised a point of order objecting to the words of the Minister.

The Chairman said he will look into the concern raised by the member

In reply to another question, Piyush Goyal said that there is no question of a food shortage in the country.
We are calibrating our resources to ensure that our food stocks remain intact, the Minister said.

In the post-lunch session, the Chairman took up Private Members’ Business today Friday.

The Chairman called on Kishorilal Meena of the BJP to introduce Private Members’ legislation to implement the Uniform Civil Code.

The introduction of the Bill was opposed by several opposition members.  Vaiko of MDMK, Tiruchi Siva of the DMK,  V Sivadasan of the CPI-M,  John Brittas of the CPI-M, Abdul Wahab of the IUML, and Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party said that the bill has contravention provisions of the Constitution and appealed to the member to withdraw it.

The members sought a division on the introduction of the Bill. It was allowed to be introduced after 63 members voted in favour of its introduction while 23 voted against it.

Later, the House took up a discussion on the Right to health bill moved by Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD.

In his reply to the discussion, Professor Jha lamented the paltry remuneration for Frontline workers in the country.

He said the Bill provides for the setting up of infrastructure in the country for ensuring the Right to health for all. Professor Jha said that after assurance by the minister that the government is committed to setting up health infrastructure in the country, he is withdrawing the Bill.

V Sivadasan of the CPI-M moved for consideration of Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022 (Amendment of Article 153 and substitution of articles 155 and article 156).

Speaking on the bill, Sivadasan said, a thorough restructuring of Centre-state relations is necessary in present times due to the worsening of relations between the Centre and the states.
‘If genuine autonomy for states is there, states will achieve new glory, ‘he said.

Alleging that the use of Article 356 to dismissing state governments, he said that demand for restricted use of Article 356 only in case of threat to India’s sovereignty has been made many times in this House.

He said, there is an urgent need to put in place safeguards in Article 356 to protect the sovereignty of state governments.

He added that the silence in the Constitution on the ‘discretion ‘ of the Governor is often misused by them.

The discussion on the bill remained inconclusive. Thereafter the Chairman called for Special Mentions.