Parliament Session Highlights: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11am on August 2

Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day. It will resume at 11am on August 2.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Mamata Mohanta, who resigned from the party and her Rajya Sabha seat on Wednesday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party’s national headquarters in New Delhi today. Read more.

“In 2013-14, the expenditure on education was ₹4.3 lakh crore which has increased to ₹9.1 lakh crore today,” Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan tells Lok Sabha. “This year ₹1.20 lakh crore has been spent.”

Rajya Sabha proceedings have been adjourned till tomorrow.

The Lok Sabha proceedings will continue till 8 pm. The working time in Rajya Sabha has been extended till the ongoing discussion is over.

During a discussion on Budget allocation for education, Congress MP Anto Antony accused the BJP of weakening academic freedom.

“The students of this country are not free to express their opinions. Academic freedom has significantly weakened, the atmosphere of fear has entered the educational sector," he alleged.

"... (Railway minister) Ashwini Vaishnaw is not taking his moral responsibility. In the last 2 months, 4 goods trains have derailed. In the last 2-3 months, 14 people have died in rail accidents... Introspect and you will yourself understand whether you should remain in the post or resign..." Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi tells ANI.

"Eight Union Ministries, at the moment, are being discussed in Parliament. Eight Union Ministries are going to be discussed in both Houses of Parliament. The Opposition is unitedly appealing that the Union Home Ministry be discussed in the Parliament. There are many urgent issues regarding the ministry that need to be discussed," says TMC MP Sagarika Ghose

The Opposition has questioned the durability of the new Parliament building after a Congress MP posted an alleged video of rainwater leaking inside a hall in the complex. Congress MP Manickam Tagore posted a video on X that showed water leaking from the roof of a lobby of the new Parliament building. The workers inside the building were seen collecting water in a bucket. The MP later moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha to discuss the issue. Read more.

The Lok Sabha sercretariat has responded to viral videos and news reports of water leakage in the lobby of the newly inaugurated Parliament Building.

“…In this regard, it is worth mentioning that keeping in view the concept of Green Parliament, glass domes have been provided in several parts of the Building, including in the Lobby, so that abundant natural light could be utilized in day to day work of the Parliament. During the heavy rain on Wednesday, the adhesive material used to fix the glass domes over the Lobby of the Building was slightly displaced, causing minor leakage of water in the Lobby,” it said.

"The problem was, however, detected timely and corrective measures were taken immediately. Thereafter, no further leakage of water has been noticed. Similarly, accumulated water opposite Makar Dwar also got drained out quickly."

Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi took a jibe at union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for not taking moral responsibility for train accidents and called him the ‘derailment minister.’

“In the last two months, at least four goods trains have derailed and four people died in July. Ten people were killed in June due to the collision of the Kanchanjunga Express, in addition to thousands of injured. Despite all this, the railway minister has not taken any responsibility,” said Gaurav Gogoi. Read more.

Addressing the Lok Sabha, Union minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "We are not the people who make reels, we do hard work unlike you people who make reels for show off..."

He adds: "The average working and rest times of Loco pilots are decided by a rule that was formulated in 2005. In 2016, the rules were amended and Loco pilots were given more facilities. All the running rooms - 558 were made air-conditioned. Loco cabs vibrate much, heated up and hence more than 7,000 loco cabs are air-conditioned. It was zero in the time of those people who today show sympathy by making reels..."

Union minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, tells the Lok Sabha: "If we talk about recruitment in railways - from 2004 to 2014 during UPA's tenure, only 4 lakh 11 thousand employees were recruited in railways whereas from 2014 to 2024 - in 10 years of NDA's, this tally goes up to 5 lakh 2 thousand... What has been in demand for years - to have an annual calendar for railway recruitment, we have declared it in January 2024. For the youths who try hard to get into railways, now vacancies for the same come 4 times in a year - in January, April, July and October. Even now, 40,565 vacancies are advertised that are to be filled..."

While speaking in Lok Sabha, Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw targeted the Opposition, saying: "Those who are shouting here must be asked in their 58 years of being in power why they were not able to install Automatic Train Protection (ATP), even 1 km. Today, they dare to raise the questions. When Mamata Banerjee was the railway minister, she used to give the accident numbers that decreased from 0.24 to 0.19 these people used to clap in the House and today when it has decreased from 0.19 to 0.03, they put such blame. Will this country run in this way? Congress with the help of its troll army of social media raises false things. Are they trying to infuse fear in the hearts of those 2 crore people who travel every day by railways?"

Parliament Session Live Updates: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held discussions with his Cabinet colleagues in the wake of the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reportedly issuing him a "show-cause notice", seen as a precursor to sanctioning his prosecution in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam'.

Parliament Session Live Updates: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday asked members to be alert during House proceedings or else, he said, they will lose the opportunity to ask supplementary questions during the Question Hour. Birla said this after Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was unable to respond to the speaker's call on time.

Parliament Session Live Updates: Union Jal Shakti minister C R Patil announced that over 15 crore water connections have been provided across India under the Har Ghar Jal scheme. Speaking in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour, Patil said, “Under the Har Ghar Jal scheme, so far 15 crore connections have been given”.

The central government is implementing the Har Ghar Jal scheme under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in collaboration with state governments to ensure tap water supply to every rural household.

Government data shows that when the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced in August 2019, only 3.23 crore (17 percent) of rural households had tap water connections. Since then, the number of households with tap water access has significantly increased.

Parliament Session Live Updates: In the Rajya Sabha, AAP MP Raghav Chadha called for lowering the minimum age for contesting elections in India from 25 to 21 years. He argued that India, with a young population, should have younger politicians. Chadha noted that while 26% of the first Lok Sabha members were under 40, only 12% of the 17th Lok Sabha members were in that age group. He urged the government to reduce the age requirement to reflect the country’s youth.

Parliament Session Live Updates: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari criticised Arvind Kejriwal’s government, claiming it has made Delhi the most dangerous city for residents. He accused the administration of corruption and inaction, pointing to recent electrocution deaths as evidence. Tiwari argued that removing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from power is essential and appealed giving the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi a chance to govern.

Parliament Session Live Updates: “There’s leakage everywhere, bridges are collapsing, and the BJP is immersed in corruption. What's happening in the country? How much has the BJP taken in bribes through electoral bonds? Rainwater is leaking inside the Parliament, and they should have at least considered that PM Modi also sits there,” said AAP MP Sanjay Singh during a press conference.

Parliament Session Live Updates: "Delhi’s MCD is corrupt. I urge the ED to investigate the entire property of the MCD chairman. There are no laws regulating coaching centres,” said Independent MP Pappu Yadav.

Parliament Session Live Updates: Odisha BJP MLA Ashok Mohanty claimed that Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders have lost confidence in Naveen Patnaik following BJD leader Mamata Mohanta's resignation from both the Rajya Sabha and the party on Wednesday.

Mohanty suggested that Mohanta resigned because she believed staying in the party would hinder her ability to develop her region.

"BJD leaders have lost faith in Naveen Patnaik. The party's allegations are false. We have the necessary numbers in both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Mohanta left because she realized staying in the party would prevent her from advancing her area," he said.

Parliament Session Live Updates: Congress MP Manickam Tagore submitted an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha on Thursday addressing water leakage in the Parliament lobby.

In his notice, Tagore said that the leakage reveals "potential issues with the building's weather resilience, just one year after its completion."

Red here: ‘Rainwater leakage’ in Parliament building, Congress MP shares video