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Govt urges structured debates as Parliament gears up for another stormy session
The government has requested an enabling environment for structured debates in upcoming Parliament session.
The government has requested all parties to maintain a conducive atmosphere for structured debates during the upcoming winter session of the Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said on Saturday. Addressing the media after an all-party meeting, Joshi stressed that the government is ready to hold discussions on all the issues.
An all-party meeting was convened today under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to strategize the legislative agenda and ensure a smooth functioning of the parliamentary proceedings during the upcoming parliamentary session. The opposition leaders demanded English nomenclature for the three bills seeking to replace criminal laws while also flagging issues of price rise, "misuse" of probe agencies, and Manipur.
“We requested that the atmosphere should be maintained for structured debates,” the minister said.
“The discussions should be held following rules and procedures...The govt is ready to hold discussions on all the issues...The govt is fully ready for structured debate,” he added.
Joshi said 19 bills and two financial items were under consideration.
The Parliament is set to witness another stormy session, which is scheduled to have 15 sittings until December 22, over several controversial issues including the potential expulsion of TMC lawmaker Mahua Moitra in a “cash-for-query” case.
Ahead of the parliament session, Congress' Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote to Speaker Om Birla on the Ethics Committee's proceedings against Mahua Moitra and demanded a relook at the rules and processes of parliamentary committees. In his four-page letter, Chowdhury said there is no clear demarcation in the roles envisaged for the Privileges Committee and the Ethics Committee, especially on exercising penal powers.
Chowdhury said in his letter, "I am writing with the primary intention of placing before you my views, which are being made in my personal capacity, on the need for having a relook and appropriately reviewing and recasting the rules and processes that relate to the functioning of parliamentary committees that are primarily concerned with the interests and rights of Members of Lok Sabha viz, Privileges Committee, Ethics Committee, etc."
Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati said that her party reiterated the demand for a nationwide caste census during the meeting.
"Now that the demand for this is rising from every corner of the country, it is necessary for the central government to take immediate positive steps in this regard," she said in a social media post.
She also took veiled swipe at the grand alliance in Bihar, calling the attempt by "various state governments" to conduct caste survey "half-hearted".
