Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, on March 29, and it will be taken up for consideration and passing today.
Here are the updates:
Rajya Sabha adjourns
Rajya Sabha adjourns till 11 a.m. on Thursday (March 31, 2022).
Priyanka Chaturvedi urges govt to release grants for medical device park in Maharashtra
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi urges the Centre to release the grants and aid for the development of a proposed medical device park in Maharashtra. She says the approval remains pending from the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
Congress’ Syed Nasir Hussain says Centre ‘pro-cronyism’ calls it ‘suit-boot sarkar’
Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain says the Centre has been “pro-capitalist, pro-big business, pro-cronyism” and terms it a “suit-boot” government.
NCP member raises issue of bonded labour
Nationalist Congress Party MP Vandana Chavan raises the issue of bonded labour during the discussion on the Ministry of Labour and Employment. She says the government has no official figures about the number of bonded labours and cites the 2018 Global Slavery Index and says eight million people living in slavery in India.
She also cites the UN’s data from 2019 which says India has 21% of women labour participation in comparison to 53%, which is the global median.
CPI(M)‘s Elamaram Kareem says amendments made to labour laws against ILO conventions
CPI(M) member Elamaram Kareem says the amendments made to India’s labour laws are against the conventions set by the International Labour Organisation. He also says the government has not accepted any of the recommendations made by the standing committee.
BJP member opposes Digvijay Singh’s ‘unparliamentary’ words
Rajya Sabha witnesses slight commotion after BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe objected to the alleged usage of “unparliamentary words” by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh during the discussion on the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
House passes The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Rajya Sabha passes The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Following this, the House takes up discussion on the working of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Arjun Munda replies to discussion on The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda replies to the discussion on The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in Rajya Sabha.
Members discuss The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022
CPI(M) MP V. Sivadasan says members of the Adivasi community constitute nine percent of the total population in the country but they also constitute 70% of the total poor people. He also says 51% of the Adivasis are suffering from multi-dimensional poverty. He urges the government to address the issues of the community.
Meanwhile, AIADMK member M. Thambidurai asks for the inclusion of some communities, including the Narikuravars, from the state of Tamil Nadu in the tribal list.
Proceedings resume, The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022 under discussion
House adjourned till 2 p.m
Discussion during Question hour about Beti Bachao Beti Padhao schemes
Time ran out as Irani was responding to a question about allocation of funds for media campaigns as opposed to other schemes for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
Questions posed about child marriage and reportage
Dr Vikas Mahatme, MP from BJP, asked a question about the reportage of child marriages in India. Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani responded by acknowledging that the social issues that encompass child marriage. and reportage are very complex, and said that her Ministry and the Ministry of Home Affairs has been reaching out to states. She also said that the ministry was undertaking awareness campaigns
Dr. Amee Yajnik, Congress MP from Gujarat, pointed out that in Gujarat, 31 % of girls below 21 get married. She asked about how not having access to education or not staying in school might impact this.
Irani acknowledged the statistics and other findings from the National Family Health survey and highlighted measures being taken by the ministry.
Will MP quotes in education end? asks MP Sushil Kumar Modi
Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP MP from Bihar, asked the question of whether, just as the Mantri quota has ended, the MP quota would also be ended in the educational sector.
Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said that the ministry is thinking about this matter seriously.
Follow-up questions from other members also tackled the quality of education in Kendriya Vidyalayas.
The house is experiencing some commotion during this phase of the discussion.
6 million have been trained under various schemes: Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani
Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani said that 6 million women have been trained under various government training and skilling schemes, including UGC. She said that 54 percent of the beneficiaries of the digital literacy programme launched by Prime Minister Modi were women. She added that this government had moved in the direction of gender responsive procurement, procuring from women entrepreneurs.
She was responding to a question from BJP MP Prakash Javadekar about how many women had gotten seats in ITIs over the last 7 years.
Minister of State Munjapara Mahendrabhai had also earlier said that ITIs have now opened in many places, and if a member wanted a new one, they could let him know.
Question hour under way
All states should assist Kashmiri Pandits: Congress MP
Deepender Singh Hooda, Congress MP from Haryana, highlighted the plight of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, pointing out that Haryana was one of the states with the largest number of Kashmiri Pandits. He urged that states should adopt a uniform policy towards these Kashmiris and given them economic assistance.
MPs Mausam Noor and Dr. L Hanumanthaiah raise pollution issue and urge government action
MP Mausom Noor said that no city was at the permissible limit for pollutants. She said every citizen had the right to clean air and urged the government to take measures to improve air quality.
Rising TB cases should be tackled: Congress MP Phulo Devi Netam
Phulo Devi Netam, INC MP from Chhattisgarh, raised the issue of continuing cases of TB in India. Quoting statistics, she pointed out that that the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented testing and treatment of TB cases. Now that India is getting out of the pandemic, the government should pay attention to TB and take measures to combat it, she said.
Teachers in Coal India-associated schools being underpaid: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut raised the issue of teachers associated with Coal India schools being severely underpaid. They are striking for wages, and are receiving less than minimum wage, he said.
He said that, the poor children of labourers are getting free education, but the teachers teaching them are not getting paid. Around 2000 teachers are working for these schools. They are receiving Rs. 5,000-6,000 salary, and are having to wait for many months to avail of this.
He pointed out that Coal India has many funds, and said that this issue should be tackled.
Chairman Naidu asked that a note be made and sent to the Minister of State for Coal.
Decorated sportspersons living in penury should be ensured employment and social benefits: Dr. Narendra Jadhav
Dr. Narendra Jadhav raised the issue of sportspersons living in penury. They are eligible for appointment to posts in central and state governments, but now living in poor living conditions, he said. They should be given employment and social benefits to alleviate this, Jadhav concluded.
He pointed out that work on the wrestling stadium built in honour of Olympian Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (the first individual medal winner) has also been halted.
Adolescent women health should be a priority: MP Santanu Sen
During Zero hour, MP Santanu Sen raised the issue of the health of adolescent women and said that measures should be taken to further this cause.
Bidding farewell to 72 members, Question hour & Zero hour dispensed off tomorrow: Naidu
Naidu announced that Question hour and Zero hour will not be conducted tomorrow to allow for members to make speeches and bid farewell as 72 members leave the Rajya Sabha
He also dispensed of 267 notices raised by members on the same matter as yesterday.
Members to associate by 1 p.m.: Chairman Naidu
Chairman Venkaiah Naidu indicated to members that they should associate with Zero Hour and Question Hour issues before 1 p.m. for those raised before 12 p.m
Motion to elect member to JIPMER board passed
A motion was raised to elect one member to replace a retiring Rajya Sabha member on the board of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research.
The motion passed with unanimous vote.
Proceedings commence at Rajya Sabha
List of Business
- Papers, reports of the parliamentary standing committee to be laid on the table.
- Ajay Kumar to make a statement regarding the status of implementation of recommendations/observations contained in the 230th report of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on “Atrocities and Crimes against Women and Children”
- Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister for Health and Family Welfare to move the motion for election to the Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry
- Question Hour
- Further consideration of The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, that was moved by Arjun Munda the previous day
- Discussion on the working of the Ministry of Labour and Employment
Day 11 recap
In response to a question about the development of health facilities in the country, the health minister said that other countries are looking at India as a leader in health after its expert handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and praised PM Modi’s leadership.
Rajya Sabha passed The Appropriation Bill, 2022 and The Finance Bill, 2022.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022, for consideration and passing.
