Rajya Sabha adjourns till 9:00 am tomorrow.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 9 am tomorrow
parliament
13:36 September 19
13:31 September 19
Rajya Sabha passes The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
13:27 September 19
" I expect at this point he will tell the exact number of the health workers died in the country. Even at this moment, he fails to state that," said Binoy Viswam, CPI MP in Rajya Sabha.
13:17 September 19
"Dearness allowance was not given to doctors, their salary was cut. The government doesn't have data on the death of doctors but IMA said that 342 doctors died. What about compensation to them after their death?" said PL Punia, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
13:05 September 19
The sitting hours of the House is extended until The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is passed.
12:53 September 19
"We support this bill. But it is also our responsibility to take care about there work shifts, essential requirements and compensation package. Also attention needs to paid on needs of police, ASHA workers, sanitation workers. Health coverage is also important. Private hospital used this pandemic situation as an opportunity and there must a rule for this," Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:53 September 19
"The government should have thought of better legislation. In normal situations also doctors have faced such situations. No one has talked about ASHA workers, firstly they were not provided with any protection. The government of India should have gone a step forward for not only doctors but also for allied workers, "Vandana Chauhan, NCP MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:30 September 19
"Forgery in essential products during the epidemic, need a law to punish this. Black marketing of essential measures. Private hospitals taking more charges during the crisis. No measures for the hospital authority taking a hefty amount from patients. COVID-19 deceased persons family needs financial assistance, " said Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, SP MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:28 September 19
"Sinister provision is also in this bill. You thought of healthcare workers now? Bengal has Medicare Service Prevention of Violence&Damage to Property Act. This bill was passed in 2009. What happens to this Bill. You are poking in my state. The bill gives unqualified power to the central government to interfere into affairs of the state. This is an attempt to encroach the constitutionally assigned functioning of the state. Look at the impositions of fines," Derek O Brien, AITC MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:13 September 19
"Whenever any legislation or ordinances come we always tell ourselves we need to look at this in a backdrop. In 2019, the BJP government led by Narendra Modi won 303 seats in Lok Sabha. At the same time, the government must remember that states of Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Kerala Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Andhra, Delhi rejected you. The CMs there are elected to run their states. They cannot cross the constitutional bar. They are elected CMs. In 1975, there was another E word which somebody tried to cross and everybody knows what happened," Derek O Brien, AITC MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:06 September 19
"Many healthcare workers including doctors, paramedical staffs were insulted in some form or the other, due to stigma attached to COVID-19. Central government planned to act on this situation and found that there was a need for a law, a prohibitory mechanism against such incidents," said Dr Harsh Vardhan in Rajya Sabha.
11:59 September 19
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan moves The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
11:46 September 19
Rajya Sabha passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020.
11:31 September 19
"What about employment? 258 companies were rescued, roughly one-third were defunct companies; 965 companies proceeded for liquidation, three-fourth were defunct, loss of employment is minimal even after liquidation, 965 companies had assets of 38,000 crore. So, in value times the asset saved is more than liquidated.
11:31 September 19
"It is better to suspend sections 7, 9 and 10 of IBC so that we can prevent businesses from getting pushed into insolvency and with that intention an ordinance was brought out. With this intention, Section 10A of the ordinance was brought in. IBC is such a critical part of business now," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister.
11:30 September 19
"We are quite ready and keen to hear from all sides of the House, so, Professor Manoj Jha, I want to assure you that I will personally sit and listen to all comments as a duty," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister.
11:08 September 19
Financially stressed companies will get an opportunity to work in a better ecosystem," Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, JDU MP in Rajya Sabha.
10:52 September 19
"Everybody talked about health ministry and health institutions. But a lot of stress has been on Finance Ministry. Please look for wisdom across the ile. The tendency to discard the opposition advice should go away. A prohibition on voluntary insolvency proceedings of a corporate deter in distress may result in further deterioration of his assets. I think this can be taken care of. Many people are losing jobs in the last six months including media," Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD MP in Rajya Sabha.
10:33 September 19
"There is discrimination between corporate bodies and the common man. I request the government for a waiver of loan on a home loan, health loan. Waive off agricultural loan, farm loan," Wilson, DMK MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:54 September 19
"Madhya Pradesh lost its government and a new CM was sworn in. Following this, a 21-day lockdown was imposed. In this lockdown, some ordinances were hurriedly issued and this was one of them. Small traders will be affected by this ordinance, and that the government is trying to protect big corporates. MSMEs must be allowed to initiate CIRB proceedings irrespective of the provisions," Vivek Tankha, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:43 September 19
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moves Bill for amendment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
09:40 September 19
"In India, many children come from the EWS category. Many children have to delay education due to lack of support. Extend age relaxation facility for EWS children," Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:36 September 19
"There are 24 lakh Tuberculosis patients in India. Due to the focus on fighting COVID19, the fight against TB has slowed down. Govt should intensify the tracking system and pay more attention to treating TB patients," Rajya Sabha MP KJ Alphons said.
09:27 September 19
"Schools are closed from last six months and that is why online classes are going on. Some students are not financially stable to afford PC or smartphone or laptop to attend online classes. This is putting stress on both the students and their parents. Students have committed suicide due to online classes. A task force should be constituted to find the impact online education on students. Central government should provide financial assistance for such students," Ahmed Patel, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:01 September 19
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Neeraj Shekhar has given zero-hour notice in Rajya Sabha over demand for inclusion of Bhojpuri in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution.
09:01 September 19
Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh has given zero-hour notice over the demand to provide support to artists facing hardships due to COVID-19 pandemic.
08:15 September 19
Rajya Sabha LIVE
RS passes bills for reduction of MPs, ministers' salaries, opposition demands restoration of MPLAD
New Delhi: Parliament on Friday passed a bill to reduce for one year the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent "to meet the exigencies arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic".
The bill was passed in Rajya Sabha with a voice vote.
Lok Sabha had passed the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 bill earlier this week.
It will replace the Salary, Allowances And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, that was cleared by the Cabinet on April 6 and promulgated the next day.
The Upper House also passed the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which proposes to reduce the salaries and allowances of ministers by 30 per cent for a year.
Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy moved the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Both bills were taken up simultaneously and passed by voice vote.
While supporting the cuts in salaries, most Opposition members who participated in the discussion urged the government to review its decision to suspend the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme for two years saying it was necessary to carry out development works in their respective constituencies.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said this was a temporary suspension.
During the debate, Joshi said it did not matter how much money was being saved through salary cuts of members. "Charity should begin from home and that is the concept we have started. It is not Rs 4 crore saving as said by DMK member but Rs 53.9 crore per year from members' salary," he said.
DMK member P Wilson had earlier during the discussion said the measure would entail savings of just Rs 4 crore.
On several opposition members asking the government to stop various projects like Bullet train and construction of a new Parliament building to cut costs, Joshi said,
"First you say public spending should be increased and now you are demanding that all these projects should be stopped".
"At least we don't pay to some private trust from PM Relief fund. These people raised similar issues in 2019 election and people have answered," Joshi further said.
Reddy said COVID-19 has impacted the incomes of people working in the private sector and so the Prime Minister initiated this bill which entails 30 per cent reduction in ministers' salaries.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said around 70 per cent MPs depend on their salaries and have to take care of every expense through these emoluments alone.
He said MPLAD funds are meant for taking care of needy people in their constituencies and are utilised for various things like purchasing ambulances, making small roads and community centres.
"It (MPLAD) should not be suspended for two years. How did you presume that corona will go on for two years? Even if you had to do it you should have reduced it by half to Rs 2.5 crore. My suggestion to the government will be to reduce it to one year and in that one year Rs 2.5 crore fund be kept," he said.
Similarly, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (SP), V Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP), K Somaprasad (CPI-M), Fauzia Khan (NCP), Veer Singh (BSP), Nazir Ahmed Laway (PDP) while supporting the reduction in salaries, sought restoration of the MPLAD scheme.
Wilson said the Centre is suspending MPLAD scheme when various infrastructure projects like Central Vista project were still being taken up.
Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), while supporting the bill to cut salaries, asked the government to set it priorities properly. He asked if construction of a new Parliament building was necessary when the country was going through a tough phase.
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh (JD-U) sought creation of a special corpus to deal with pandemics in the future.
Earlier, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh allowed joint debate on both bills after members of the Upper House, cutting across party lines, suggested that as the contents and purpose of both bills were same, they should be discussed jointly.
Initiating the debate, Rajiv Satav (Cong) welcomed the step towards MPs' salary cuts but questioned the government's move to suspend the MPLAD scheme. "You are talking about the common people and have suspended MPLAD scheme, which was meant for the welfare of people," he said.
Satav said government effort's to tackle the pandemic are a "live example of mismanagement and failure" and no chief ministers were consulted before the lockdown.
"In 2014, the GDP growth rate was 7.4 per cent and now it has come to a minus 23.9 per cent," he said, adding, "Instead of being corona free, the country has become employment free (Corona mukt ke jagah Rojgar Mukt ho gaya).
Pointing at the PM CARES fund, Satav said "no one knows to whom it is caring.
He also pointed out expenses by the government during the pandemic on projects such as Central Vista, Bullet train and a special Rs 850 crore aircraft for the PM.
Shwait Mallik (BJP) said previous governments had not worked on disaster management. He said all states were consulted by the Centre while imposing the lockdown and PM had considered their suggestions.
Trinamool Congress member Dinesh Trivedi said the bill for reduction of members' salaries was decided only by some MPs on whatsapp.
Prasanna Acharya (BJD) said MPLAD should not be suspended and all arrears of previous projects be cleared.
13:36 September 19
Rajya Sabha adjourns till 9:00 am tomorrow.
13:31 September 19
Rajya Sabha passes The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
13:27 September 19
" I expect at this point he will tell the exact number of the health workers died in the country. Even at this moment, he fails to state that," said Binoy Viswam, CPI MP in Rajya Sabha.
13:17 September 19
"Dearness allowance was not given to doctors, their salary was cut. The government doesn't have data on the death of doctors but IMA said that 342 doctors died. What about compensation to them after their death?" said PL Punia, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
13:05 September 19
The sitting hours of the House is extended until The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020 is passed.
12:53 September 19
"We support this bill. But it is also our responsibility to take care about there work shifts, essential requirements and compensation package. Also attention needs to paid on needs of police, ASHA workers, sanitation workers. Health coverage is also important. Private hospital used this pandemic situation as an opportunity and there must a rule for this," Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:53 September 19
"The government should have thought of better legislation. In normal situations also doctors have faced such situations. No one has talked about ASHA workers, firstly they were not provided with any protection. The government of India should have gone a step forward for not only doctors but also for allied workers, "Vandana Chauhan, NCP MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:30 September 19
"Forgery in essential products during the epidemic, need a law to punish this. Black marketing of essential measures. Private hospitals taking more charges during the crisis. No measures for the hospital authority taking a hefty amount from patients. COVID-19 deceased persons family needs financial assistance, " said Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, SP MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:28 September 19
"Sinister provision is also in this bill. You thought of healthcare workers now? Bengal has Medicare Service Prevention of Violence&Damage to Property Act. This bill was passed in 2009. What happens to this Bill. You are poking in my state. The bill gives unqualified power to the central government to interfere into affairs of the state. This is an attempt to encroach the constitutionally assigned functioning of the state. Look at the impositions of fines," Derek O Brien, AITC MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:13 September 19
"Whenever any legislation or ordinances come we always tell ourselves we need to look at this in a backdrop. In 2019, the BJP government led by Narendra Modi won 303 seats in Lok Sabha. At the same time, the government must remember that states of Bengal, Punjab, Telangana, Kerala Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Andhra, Delhi rejected you. The CMs there are elected to run their states. They cannot cross the constitutional bar. They are elected CMs. In 1975, there was another E word which somebody tried to cross and everybody knows what happened," Derek O Brien, AITC MP in Rajya Sabha.
12:06 September 19
"Many healthcare workers including doctors, paramedical staffs were insulted in some form or the other, due to stigma attached to COVID-19. Central government planned to act on this situation and found that there was a need for a law, a prohibitory mechanism against such incidents," said Dr Harsh Vardhan in Rajya Sabha.
11:59 September 19
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan moves The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
11:46 September 19
Rajya Sabha passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020.
11:31 September 19
"What about employment? 258 companies were rescued, roughly one-third were defunct companies; 965 companies proceeded for liquidation, three-fourth were defunct, loss of employment is minimal even after liquidation, 965 companies had assets of 38,000 crore. So, in value times the asset saved is more than liquidated.
11:31 September 19
"It is better to suspend sections 7, 9 and 10 of IBC so that we can prevent businesses from getting pushed into insolvency and with that intention an ordinance was brought out. With this intention, Section 10A of the ordinance was brought in. IBC is such a critical part of business now," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister.
11:30 September 19
"We are quite ready and keen to hear from all sides of the House, so, Professor Manoj Jha, I want to assure you that I will personally sit and listen to all comments as a duty," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister.
11:08 September 19
Financially stressed companies will get an opportunity to work in a better ecosystem," Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, JDU MP in Rajya Sabha.
10:52 September 19
"Everybody talked about health ministry and health institutions. But a lot of stress has been on Finance Ministry. Please look for wisdom across the ile. The tendency to discard the opposition advice should go away. A prohibition on voluntary insolvency proceedings of a corporate deter in distress may result in further deterioration of his assets. I think this can be taken care of. Many people are losing jobs in the last six months including media," Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD MP in Rajya Sabha.
10:33 September 19
"There is discrimination between corporate bodies and the common man. I request the government for a waiver of loan on a home loan, health loan. Waive off agricultural loan, farm loan," Wilson, DMK MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:54 September 19
"Madhya Pradesh lost its government and a new CM was sworn in. Following this, a 21-day lockdown was imposed. In this lockdown, some ordinances were hurriedly issued and this was one of them. Small traders will be affected by this ordinance, and that the government is trying to protect big corporates. MSMEs must be allowed to initiate CIRB proceedings irrespective of the provisions," Vivek Tankha, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:43 September 19
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moves Bill for amendment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016
09:40 September 19
"In India, many children come from the EWS category. Many children have to delay education due to lack of support. Extend age relaxation facility for EWS children," Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:36 September 19
"There are 24 lakh Tuberculosis patients in India. Due to the focus on fighting COVID19, the fight against TB has slowed down. Govt should intensify the tracking system and pay more attention to treating TB patients," Rajya Sabha MP KJ Alphons said.
09:27 September 19
"Schools are closed from last six months and that is why online classes are going on. Some students are not financially stable to afford PC or smartphone or laptop to attend online classes. This is putting stress on both the students and their parents. Students have committed suicide due to online classes. A task force should be constituted to find the impact online education on students. Central government should provide financial assistance for such students," Ahmed Patel, Congress MP in Rajya Sabha.
09:01 September 19
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Neeraj Shekhar has given zero-hour notice in Rajya Sabha over demand for inclusion of Bhojpuri in the 8th Schedule to the Constitution.
09:01 September 19
Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh has given zero-hour notice over the demand to provide support to artists facing hardships due to COVID-19 pandemic.
08:15 September 19
Rajya Sabha LIVE
RS passes bills for reduction of MPs, ministers' salaries, opposition demands restoration of MPLAD
New Delhi: Parliament on Friday passed a bill to reduce for one year the salaries of MPs by 30 per cent "to meet the exigencies arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic".
The bill was passed in Rajya Sabha with a voice vote.
Lok Sabha had passed the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 bill earlier this week.
It will replace the Salary, Allowances And Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, that was cleared by the Cabinet on April 6 and promulgated the next day.
The Upper House also passed the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which proposes to reduce the salaries and allowances of ministers by 30 per cent for a year.
Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy moved the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Both bills were taken up simultaneously and passed by voice vote.
While supporting the cuts in salaries, most Opposition members who participated in the discussion urged the government to review its decision to suspend the Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme for two years saying it was necessary to carry out development works in their respective constituencies.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said this was a temporary suspension.
During the debate, Joshi said it did not matter how much money was being saved through salary cuts of members. "Charity should begin from home and that is the concept we have started. It is not Rs 4 crore saving as said by DMK member but Rs 53.9 crore per year from members' salary," he said.
DMK member P Wilson had earlier during the discussion said the measure would entail savings of just Rs 4 crore.
On several opposition members asking the government to stop various projects like Bullet train and construction of a new Parliament building to cut costs, Joshi said,
"First you say public spending should be increased and now you are demanding that all these projects should be stopped".
"At least we don't pay to some private trust from PM Relief fund. These people raised similar issues in 2019 election and people have answered," Joshi further said.
Reddy said COVID-19 has impacted the incomes of people working in the private sector and so the Prime Minister initiated this bill which entails 30 per cent reduction in ministers' salaries.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said around 70 per cent MPs depend on their salaries and have to take care of every expense through these emoluments alone.
He said MPLAD funds are meant for taking care of needy people in their constituencies and are utilised for various things like purchasing ambulances, making small roads and community centres.
"It (MPLAD) should not be suspended for two years. How did you presume that corona will go on for two years? Even if you had to do it you should have reduced it by half to Rs 2.5 crore. My suggestion to the government will be to reduce it to one year and in that one year Rs 2.5 crore fund be kept," he said.
Similarly, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (SP), V Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP), K Somaprasad (CPI-M), Fauzia Khan (NCP), Veer Singh (BSP), Nazir Ahmed Laway (PDP) while supporting the reduction in salaries, sought restoration of the MPLAD scheme.
Wilson said the Centre is suspending MPLAD scheme when various infrastructure projects like Central Vista project were still being taken up.
Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), while supporting the bill to cut salaries, asked the government to set it priorities properly. He asked if construction of a new Parliament building was necessary when the country was going through a tough phase.
Ram Chandra Prasad Singh (JD-U) sought creation of a special corpus to deal with pandemics in the future.
Earlier, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh allowed joint debate on both bills after members of the Upper House, cutting across party lines, suggested that as the contents and purpose of both bills were same, they should be discussed jointly.
Initiating the debate, Rajiv Satav (Cong) welcomed the step towards MPs' salary cuts but questioned the government's move to suspend the MPLAD scheme. "You are talking about the common people and have suspended MPLAD scheme, which was meant for the welfare of people," he said.
Satav said government effort's to tackle the pandemic are a "live example of mismanagement and failure" and no chief ministers were consulted before the lockdown.
"In 2014, the GDP growth rate was 7.4 per cent and now it has come to a minus 23.9 per cent," he said, adding, "Instead of being corona free, the country has become employment free (Corona mukt ke jagah Rojgar Mukt ho gaya).
Pointing at the PM CARES fund, Satav said "no one knows to whom it is caring.
He also pointed out expenses by the government during the pandemic on projects such as Central Vista, Bullet train and a special Rs 850 crore aircraft for the PM.
Shwait Mallik (BJP) said previous governments had not worked on disaster management. He said all states were consulted by the Centre while imposing the lockdown and PM had considered their suggestions.
Trinamool Congress member Dinesh Trivedi said the bill for reduction of members' salaries was decided only by some MPs on whatsapp.
Prasanna Acharya (BJD) said MPLAD should not be suspended and all arrears of previous projects be cleared.
Last Updated : Sep 19, 2020, 1:54 PM IST
