Parliamentarians in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI SansadTV
Monday, December 19, marked the beginning of the third working week of the Winter Session of Parliament. Opposition members today continued to raise concerns about the clash between India and China in Arunachal Pradesh in both Houses. While adjournments overshadowed the pre-lunch session in the Rajya Sabha, members debated Appropriation Bills in the latter half. The Lok Sabha, meanwhile, managed to transact significant business as it passed two Bills while the Law Ministry also introduced the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022, which seeks to repeal over 60 obsolete laws, including one enacted 137 years ago.
Lok Sabha
The House passed the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, which would enable Indian authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas and was to be on the lines of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Before being introduced in Parliament this time, the Bill had been sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee and reintroduced with some of the incorporated changes. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar replying to the debate on the Bill today, stated the amendments moved as part of the bill put forth a range of punishments depending on the gravity of the offence and culpability.
Mr. Jaishankar also responded to DMK MP Kanimozhi, rejecting her assertion about the treatment being accorded to fishermen from Tamil Nadu. He said that rather than a step-motherly treatment, Tamil Nadu was being given a good-motherly treatment when compared to Gujarat. He laid out figures that enumerated since 2014, 2,835 fishermen have been released from Sri Lanka whereas 2,165 have been released from Gujarat.
While member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the Opposition Congress supported the Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, he also flagged concerns about the recent border conflict with China. Mr. Chowdhury also demanded a discussion on the issue of civilian killings in Jammu and Kashmir in Zero Hour. Referring to the recent killings of two youths in militants’ firing outside an Army camp in Rajouri, he said innocent citizens were losing their lives.
Besides, the Lower House also debated and passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2022 that seeks to include the Betta Kuruba community in the ST list of Karnataka as a synonym for the Kadu Kuruba tribe. As in the previous discussions on such Bills, members raised concerns about why the government was not tabling a consolidated bill but bringing in amendments in parts. Responding to the same, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda stated the house was also discussing the issues and demands of varied tribal communities and the endeavour was to ensure discussion specific to communities of each state.
As for replies tabled in the House, the Finance Ministry informed that the gross Non-Performing Assets of public sector banks had peaked to Rs 8,95,601 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 14.58 per cent) in 2018 but assets transparently recognised as NPAs had since declined to Rs 5,40,958 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 7.28 per cent), as on March 31, 2022.
In another reply, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, public sector banks had recovered ₹4,80,111 crore, including ₹1,03,045 crore from written-off loans, during the last five financial years.
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as proceedings resumed on Monday morning. The Opposition walked out after the Chair rejected their demands for a discussion on Chinese incursion on Indian borders. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected all nine notices to suspend business and asked the members to follow due procedure while giving such notices. The Opposition, led by the Congress party, walked out of the Upper House in protest.
Mr. Dhankhar also said that disruptions of House proceedings were not sending good signals and that he had asked certain MPs to see him in his chamber over last week’s disruptions.
Business, meanwhile, continued as members laid papers on the table and presented reports. During Zero Hour, BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi voiced his opposition to same-sex marriage. “Marriage means the relationship between a biological man and biological woman…Same-sex marriage is neither recognised nor accepted in any uncodified personal law or codified statutory law. Same-sex marriage will cause complete havoc to the delicate balance of personal laws of the country. Two judges can’t sit and decide. This should be debated in the Parliament,” the Bihar MP said. Congress MP P. Chidambaram’s questions about the border conflict with China caused an uproar as Opposition and Treasury benches over his remarks.
In the second half, the House held a discussion on two Appropriation Bills moved by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Bills seek the authorisation of payment and appropriation of sums from the Consolidated Fund of India for the current financial year and during the financial year 2019-2020.
Opposition members, while discussing the Bills slammed the Centre on issues of inflation, unemployment, and taxes. Trinamool MP from West Bengal cited the BJP’s 2019 election manifesto to raise questions. He said the manifesto spoke about the importance of the Indian youth in transforming the country and the world, but CMIE data showed that urban unemployment in the age group of 20-24 was at 42% as of October this year. Further discussion on the Bills and Finance Minister’s response is scheduled for tomorrow.
As for replies tabled, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that close to 1.15 crore Indians who had never taken a flight before were able to experience air travel via the government’s ambitious UDAN scheme since 2016. The aim of the scheme was to take flying to the masses and improve air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities by operationalising new routes and bringing down fares.
Compiled by Sukanya Ray, Sumedha, Saptaparno Ghosh, and Diksha Munjal.