The Rajya Sabha passed two Appropriation Bills on Monday.
Discussions on booster dose for senior citizens and medical education in India were taken up during the Zero Hour.
The Rajya Sabha held a discussion on the working of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs with Union Minister Arjun Munda replying at the end of it on Thursday, March 16.
The parliament convened for the second leg of the Budget Session on March 14, 2022.
Here are the latest updates
Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day.
The Upper House of the Parliament will resume proceedings at 11.00 a.m. on Tuesday.
Rajya Sabha passes Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2022 and Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2022.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explains why Appropriation Bills for older Budgets have been introduced the Parliament now.
In her reply to the concerns raised by parliamentarians in the Upper House, Ms. Sitharaman has also addressed recurring issues like concerns about the LIC IPO, allocation for defence in the Budget, and so on.
Nirmala Sitharaman questions the use and context of the word “misappropriation” by Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.
Government MPs caused an uproar in the Upper House after Ms. Chaturvedi quoted news headlines to substantitate her stand on the declining economic health of the country during her speech. She has also opposed the Appropriation Bills, raising questions about the allocations for the defence sector as well as the development of women and children.
Common people watching this discussion on TV only want to know how the Appropriation Bill affects them, says RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha
The Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar questions the government on various fronts including why the Prime Minister accepts popularity index, but is quiet on happiness index, press freedom index, and so on.
Speaking on inflation, Mr. Jha asks why fuel prices do not fluctuate during elections if the government claims to have no control over them.
BJP MPs are all happy with the Prime Minister but the country is not happy, and that is why India is ranked low in Happiness Index, says CPI (M) MP John Brittas
In his speech, Mr. Brittas has accused the government of indulging in “crony capitalism”, saying that they have forgone crores of taxes from corporates. “There is a reason why the common man becomes poorer and corporates become richer, it’s because the government is benevolent to corporates,” the Kerala MP says.
He has also followed up on MP Shaktisinh Gohil’s comment about Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). “I am also a student of JNU like Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. All the values we imbibe from JNU are still intact in me but not sure if Finance Minister upholds them because JNU has been cast as anti-national,” he says.
A person who demands a special aircraft is not a poor person, says Gujarat Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil.
Mr. Gohil’s reference is to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Air India One’, a VVIP Boeing 777 aircraft. He has also mentioned a suit worn by Mr. Modi during his meeting with the former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2015 that reportedly cost ₹10 lakh.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs have raised objections at the references, but Mr. Gohil has said that he has not named any particular person. The Congress MP’s allegations presumably arise from the fact that Mr. Modi has often talked about growing up poor and refers to himself as a “fakir” (ascetic).
Appropriation Bill, 2022 taken for discussion
Nirmala Sitharaman move the Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2021-22, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.
Proceedings resume
Rajya Sabha reconvenes after the adjournment.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm
Deputy Chairman adjourns the House to meet at 2 pm.
Crude oil imports
In response to a question, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, says, “In the last three financial years, we have imported less than 1% crude oil from Russia. He says that in the first nine months of the year, only 0.2% of our oil requirement has been imported from Russia
He continues, “Our oil companies have invested in Russia, and it’s been very profitable, 337 million dollars investments have resulted in 3.7 billion revenue and another 20 years remain.” He says facts on the ground vary, some oil companies have expressed their intent to withdraw, and some said they will not invest fresh.
Defence
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says, in response to a question, “There have been 90-100 army recruitment rallies per year, and no region is left out, and each rally covers 6-8 districts,” on the recruitment drive.
Civil Aviation
In response to a question, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, says that scheduled operators can fly from all destinations. He says that all Indian carriers entered a period of insolvency because of the pandemic. He further says that because of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Indian carriers are able to stand despite the pandemic.
In a period of two years, the Indian cargo traffic has grown to 19% despite the pandemic, he says.
Revenue from cargo has grown in the last year, and this has enabled Indian cargo carriers to stand on their own feet, he says.
Rajya Sabha reconvenes; question hour begins
After a brief adjournment, the House reconvenes to start with the question hour.
House adjourned till 12 pm
The Chairman adjourns the House till 12 pm as all zero hour and special mentions exhausted.
On unemployment
Dr Sivadasan, Kerala MP (CPI(M)), quoting statistics, says that it’s important the govt. increases vacancies in the public sector undertakings to address the problem of growing unemployment. He demands that govt. needs to change their labour and industrial policies to suit the changing economy.
On medical education in India
KJ Alphons, Rajasthan MP (BJP), says that there is a shortage of medical seats in the country. “Since the fees to medical education is very high, and the seats are insufficient, many medical students are seeking admissions in China, Ukraike and elsewhere.
He says that 500 new medical colleges to be set up in the country.
Declare March 21 as a day of national importance, says Kailash Soni
Kailash Soni, Madhya Pradesh MP (BJP), says on this day in 1977, Morarji Desai ended the Emergency that was imposed in 1975. “Declare this day as a day of national importance,” he says.
On booster dose for senior citizens
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Maharashtra MP (Shiv Sena) demands that the government come out with clear guidelines on booster doses for the population under 60 years of age. She says many foreign countries demand booster dose certification administered within a specific time before allowing entry, and the ministry needs to come up with specific guidelines since India has decided to open international air travel from March 27.
On cold storage warehouses in A.P.
Ayodhya Rami Reddy, Andhra Pradesh MP (YSRCP) raises the issue of the lack of cold storage warehouses in Andhra Pradesh. He says that cold storage warehouses help in chilly exports and appeals to the parliament to increase financial assistance and infrastructure.
To this appeal, Venkaiah Naidu, Chairman, says that there are enough cold storage warehouses in the said State.
Zero Hour begins
After papers and reports of the parliamentary standing committee were laid on the table, the Zero Hour begins in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Proceedings begin
The parliament convened for the session after Holi. Papers are being laid on the table.
List of Business
- Papers and reports of the parliamentary standing committee to be laid on the table
- Question Hour
- Nirmala Sitharaman to move the Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2021-22, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.
- Nirmala Sitharaman to move the Bill to provide for the authorisation of appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the amounts spent on certain services during the financial year ended on the 31st day of March 2019, in excess of the amounts granted for those services and for that year, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration.
- General discussion on the budget of Jammu and Kashmir
- Nirmala Sitharaman to move the Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2021-22, be taken into consideration
- Nirmala Sitharaman to move the Bill to authorise payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the services of the financial year 2022-23, be taken into consideration.
- Discussion on the working of the Ministry of Railways, raised by Shri Prasanna Acharya, on the 16th of March, 2022
Day 4 recap
- BJD member Prasanna Acharya says the internal resources of the Indian Railways have been on a decline, increasing the Railways’ dependency on market boring
- Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda says the government has marked approximately 36,000 tribal villages under Pradhan Mantri Adi-Adarsh Gram Yojana to provide them with facilities like clean drinking water, internet, water-drainage system, 100% admission rate in schools and decreasing the dropout rate
- Talking about efforts in the field of education for tribals, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda says the Eklayva schools will be modified on the lines of central government-run Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
- Union minister Nitin Gadkari says that the sale of electric vehicles increased in the country since 2020. Mr. Gadkari also says that several startups in the country are also working on alternate battery technologies
