Parliament highlights: Cong opposes bill replacing MGNREGA; Sitharaman slams Oppn over Trump's ‘dead economy’ remark

Parliament Session Live: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is speaking in the Lok Sabha where she is highlighting key achievements of the Indian economy under the NDA government.

Parliament Session Live: Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in Lok Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Monday. (Sansad TV/ANI Grab)

Parliament Session Live: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday took on the Opposition for citing US President Donald Trump's remark that India is a “dead economy”. Sitharaman said India is the fastest-growing major economy, which grew at 8.2 per cent in the September quarter, adding that if India was a 'dead economy' then such upgrades would not have happened....Read More

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• 15 Dec 2025, 11:13:07 PM IST

  Updates to this live blog have now ended

• 15 Dec 2025, 10:52:31 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Cong-BJP trade barbs on bill replacing MGNREGA

  Parliament Session Live: The Congress has strongly objected to the bill on replacing MGNREGA, saying erasing Mahatma Gandhi's name shows how "hollow and hypocritical" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gestures of paying homage to the Father of the Nation are.

• 15 Dec 2025, 10:23:28 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: What Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha - Key points

  Parliament Session Live: Here are key highlights from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Lok Sabha address:
  

  • “Every institution is raising our growth outlook for this year and the forthcoming year. There are clear expressions (from the IMF) recognising India's growth and no dead economy gets a credit rating upgrade by DBRS, S&P and R&I.”
  • “So somebody said something somewhere, however important that somebody is, we should not depend on that but rely on data available within the country and also data coming from elsewhere. Rely on data.”
  • "Can a dead economy grow at 8.2 per cent? Can a dead economy get credit rating upgrades?" Sitharaman said.
  • “India's debt-to-GDP shot up to 61.4 per cent post-Covid, but policies adopted by the central government helped to bring it down to 57.1 per cent by 2023-24. By this year-end, I expect it to come down to 56.1 per cent”
• 15 Dec 2025, 09:47:41 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Sitharaman slams Oppn on ‘dead economy’ remarks

  Parliament Session Live: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman slammed the Opposition as it sought her response on US President Donald Trump's remark that India is a dead economy. Sitharaman said India is the fastest-growing major economy, which grew at 8.2 per cent in the September quarter. The minister said the economy in the last 10 years transitioned from "external vulnerability to external resilience". "Every institution is raising our growth outlook for this year and the forthcoming year. There are clear expressions (from the IMF) recognising India's growth and no dead economy gets a credit rating upgrade by DBRS, S&P and R&I," Sitharaman said during reply to the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:59:19 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: No dead economy gets credit rating upgrade, says Sitharaman

  Parliament Session Live: Responding to the Opposition's allegations of India's economy falling, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that no dead economy gets credit rating upgrade. “Can a dead economy grow at 8.2%?” she asked as she pointed towards data indicating India's growth.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:51:30 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Every institution is raising our growth outlook, says Sitharaman

  Parliament Session Live: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that every institution is increasing India's growth outlook for this year and the next year. She mentioned IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva's praise for India's “bold reforms”. She quoted Georgieva's remark that India has proven the naysayers wrong.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:46:27 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Sitharaman mentions Trump in her address

  Parliament Session Live: As finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted India's growth, she cited US President Donald Trump's remark that India is a dead economy. “While the global growth is 3.2%, India is growing 8.2% last quarter, becoming the fastest major growing economy,” she said.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:43:25 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Lok Sabha passes first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants

  Parliament Session Live: Lok Sabha passes first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants, seeking additional spending of ₹41,455 crore in FY26.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:33:05 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Fin min says no shortage of urea

  Parliament Session Live: There is no shortage of urea, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha on Monday. “The government will ensure its availability during Rabi season also,” she said.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:31:15 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Mobile phone manufacturing units up from 2 in 2014-15 to 300 in 2024-25, says Sitharaman

  Parliament Session Live: Highlighting India's growth in manufacturing sector, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while there were only two mobile phone manufacturing units in India in 2014-15, the numbers has increased to 300 in 2024-25, marking a growth of 150 times.

• 15 Dec 2025, 08:23:24 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: India has become net exporter in key sectors, says Sitharaman

  Parliament Session Live: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Lok Sabha that India has become net exporter in key sectors such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and defence. “When you are net exporter, you are exporting more than what you are importing,” she said.

• 15 Dec 2025, 06:19:55 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: A three-council commission will serve as the single higher education regulator, tasked with enforcing outcome-based accreditation, setting academic standards, and granting graded autonomy to institutions, the bill, which the government plans to table during the winter session to overhaul the education system, proposes, HT earlier reported. The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025--earlier called the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill--aims to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). It also seeks to regulate the establishment of higher educational institutes, imposing a fine of ₹2 crore on those who set up universities without proper government approval.

  Parliament Session Live:

• 15 Dec 2025, 05:14:26 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Higher education commission bill introduced in LS

  Parliament Session Live: he Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill that seeks to set up an overarching higher education commission along with three councils has been introduced in the Lok Sabha as the government expressed willingness to refer it to a joint committee. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Bill. The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.

• 15 Dec 2025, 04:38:24 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Congress responds as BJP slams party over remarks on PM Modi at ‘vote chori’ rally

  Parliament Session Live: As BJP's JP Nadda sought Congress's apology over remarks on PM Modi made at the ‘vote chori’ rally, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal rejected the demand. He dismissed the controversy as "baseless drama" orchestrated by the BJP to divert attention from the opposition's successful protest at Ramlila Maidan.

• 15 Dec 2025, 04:01:10 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Oppn slams Centre on G-Ram-G, asks why Mahatma Gandhi's name dropped

  Parliament Session Live: The Opposition slammed the government over a bill that seeks to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and replace it with a new rural employment law. The Opposition MPs questioned the government on removing the name of the father of the nation.

  The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, has been listed in the Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business issued on Monday. It seeks to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 and establish a "rural development framework aligned with the national vision of Viksit Bharat 2047", by providing a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in every financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.

• 15 Dec 2025, 03:24:17 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: ‘G Ram G’-Key facts

  Parliament Session Live: Centre's new Act to replace MNREGA guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work. It seeks to simultaneously provide income security and create durable, productivity-enhancing rural assets through a nationally coordinated development strategy.

  All works will be organised across four priority verticals--water security through water-related works, core rural infrastructure, livelihood-related infrastructure, and special works to mitigate the impact of extreme weather events.

  Assets created under the programme will be aggregated into the Viksit Bharat National Rural Infrastructure Stack, enabling unified planning, monitoring and integration with national spatial platforms such as PM Gati-Shakti.

• 15 Dec 2025, 03:22:06 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: What is Viksit Bharat - G RAM G Act, 2025?

  Parliament Session Live: The Centre has introduced the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin): VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, replacing the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a modern, infrastructure-focused and digitally governed statutory system aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, news agency ANI reported.

• 15 Dec 2025, 03:19:52 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Kangana condemns Cong's remarks on Modi

  Parliament Session Live: BJP MP Kangana Ranaut strongly condemned the remarks allegedly made against PM Modi during a Congress mega rally. Demanding an apology, she slammed into the opposition, saying that just because of the political rivalry, it's not right to wish death upon someone, further underlining that he is democratically elected as the prime minister.

• 15 Dec 2025, 02:34:53 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 tabled in Lok Sabha

  Parliament Session Live: Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 has been tabled in Lok Sabha

• 15 Dec 2025, 02:29:45 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025, opposed by the opposition

  The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The opposition has opposed the bill.

• 15 Dec 2025, 02:25:28 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill introduced, government proposes to send it to JPC

  Parliament Session Live: Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill introduced; government proposes sending it to JPC.

• 15 Dec 2025, 02:21:02 PM IST

  Parliament Session Live: Opposition opposes Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, calls for withdrawal

  Parliament Session Live: The Opposition opposes the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, with several MPs calling for its withdrawal from the Lok Sabha.

• 15 Dec 2025, 02:10:47 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Congress opposes the introduction of Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill

  Congress MP Manish Tewari opposed the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, calling it ‘excessive centralisation’ of higher education.

• 15 Dec 2025, 01:52:02 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: VB G Ram G listed on Lok Sabha agenda today, to replace MANAREGA

  A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and bring a new law for rural employment -- Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025 -- is set to be introduced in the Lok Sabha.

  According to a copy of the bill, it seeks to introduce the VB-G RAM G Bill, 2025, in Parliament and repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005. The bill is listed in the supplementary business list of Lok Sabha.

• 15 Dec 2025, 01:40:24 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: CPI MP asks why focus is on slogan amid remark on PM Modi row

  Parliament winter session live updates: CPI MP P Sandosh asks why the focus is on slogans when so many issues are in front of the nation.
  "Why focus on slogans when 'vote chori' and people’s issues are the main concern? The rally itself was a huge success. PM Modi himself is infamous for making derogatory remarks at election rallies," he told PTI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 01:30:50 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Civil aviation minister says government monitoring ‘opportunistic pricing’

  Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha during question hour that the government is monitoring all routes to curb 'opportunistic pricing.'
  "The ministry is taking the airfare issue seriously and that all routes are being monitored to ensure opportunistic pricing situations do not occur," minister Naidu told the Parliament, according to PTI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 01:17:15 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: CPI MP says no personal comments should be made amid PM Modi slogan row

  CPI MP P Sandosh Kumar reacted to slogans raised against PM Narendra Modi in a Congress rally, saying that personal comments should not be made.

  "One should not make any personal comments. We have several issues to discuss. Let us raise the standard of the discussion," he told ANI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 01:02:04 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Rajya Sabha resumes discussion on electoral reforms

  Parliament winter session live updates: Rajya Sabha has resumed its discussion on electoral reforms.

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:48:58 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Ramdas Athawale says Nitin Nabin being made BJP national working prez ‘a good thing’

  Union minister Ramdas Athawale congratulated Bihar minister Nitin Nabin on becoming the BJP national working president.
  "Nitin Nabin is a senior leader from Bihar, who has been an MLA five times, and is also a minister in the Bihar government... The fact that Nitin Nabin has been made the national working president is a good thing...On behalf of our party (RPI (A)), I congratulate him," Athawale told ANI outside the parliament.

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:34:54 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Congress MP says BJP wants to ‘divert attention’ from issues

  Congress MP Manickam Tagore stated that the BJP aims to ‘divert attention’ from issues such as air pollution.

  "It is very unfortunate that the BJP, and especially people like JP Nadda, want to divert people's attention from important issues like air pollution, and the tremendous response received by Congress rally has rattled them... The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, has become the Minister of Unparliamentary Affairs...The Opposition wants the Parliament to function, but the ruling party does not want to run the House," ANI quoted him as saying.

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:18:33 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Priyanka Gandhi to bring notice on air pollution

  Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi has said that she will bring a notice to discuss air pollution in the Lok Sabha.
  "Air pollution has worsened, and I will put up a notice seeking permission to discuss the issue in Parliament," Gandhi told the media outside the Parliament.

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:14:25 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Question hour ongoing in Rajya Sabha

  Parliament winter session live updates: Question hour is currently ongoing in Rajya Sabha

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:10:24 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 PM amid opposition uproar

  Parliament winter session live updates: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 PM amid opposition uproar

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:07:25 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Opposition members storm the well

  Opposition members storm the well as the Lok Sabha chair asks them to let the Zero Hour proceed.

• 15 Dec 2025, 12:03:33 PM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Uproar continues in Lok Sabha

  Uproar continues in the Lok Sabha as papers are being laid.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:59:25 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Congress MP Manish Tiwari says Lok Sabha should discuss air pollution

  Congress MP Manish Tiwari said that the Lok Sabha should discuss air pollution in the ongoing winter session.

  "Air pollution worsened in the last six years; filed 193 (Rule) in this winter session, Lok Sabha should discuss air pollution as a priority," he told PTI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:55:05 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: BJP MP says Delhi Govt. formulating ‘deep strategy’ for pollution

  BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat has said that the Delhi government was formulating a ‘deep strategy’ to tackle pollution.
  "Delhi government is formulating a deep strategy, and a plan to address the pollution issue," the BJP MP told PTI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:46:42 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Why were Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned till noon?

  Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon after a ruckus erupted in the House when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju demanded that the Congress apologise for remarks made against PM Modi during a rally yesterday.
  Similarly, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 12 PM amid uproar by the ruling party on the remarks.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:43:04 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Congress MP condemns slogans against PM Modi

  Congress MP Imran Masood has condemned the slogans against PM Narendra Modi, saying this culture does not belong to the Congress.
  “I don’t consider such things good. It is not a healthy tradition, and at least this culture does not belong to the Congress,” Masood told PTI.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:33:02 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Kiren Rijiju wants Congress's apology

  Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday sought an apology from Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for the alleged threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life by their party workers.

  Rijiju alleged that at Sunday's Congress rally in the national capital, some party workers had threatened to dig the grave of the Prime Minister, which was the "most unfortunate and tragic" thing to happen in Indian democracy.

  "Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi should tender an apology for the Congress workers' threat to the life of the Prime Minister. They should tender the apology on the floor of both Houses of Parliament. It is most unfortunate and tragic that Congress workers openly declared to dig the grave of Prime Minister Modi," he said, according to ANI.

  The parliamentary affairs minister said the workers and leaders of the Congress and the BJP are political rivals, not enemies. "We propagate different ideologies but work together for a developed India as dreamt by Prime Minister Modi," he said.

  Rijiju said that political leaders wish each other in public, despite their political fights, which are separate issues, and leaders criticise each other in different ways.

  "We oppose each other differently. We never think of killing each other, nor do we talk about that. What kind of mentality is this? What kind of practice is this where some people are threatening to kill political rivals openly?" he posed.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:29:10 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: BJP issues whip for MPs

  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday issued a whip directing all its Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the House from December 15 to December 19 with the intent to ensure full attendance at parliamentary proceedings during the final week, ANI reported.

  The 6th Session of the 18th Lok Sabha and the 269th Session of the Rajya Sabha commenced on December 1, marking the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament. The session will conclude on December 19.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:26:17 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Congress MP's adjournment motion to discuss pollution

  Congress MP Manickam Tagore has given an Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha to discuss 'severe' pollution in Delhi-NCR.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:24:00 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: JP Nadda wants Sonia Gandhi's apology for slogans against PM Modi

  BJP President JP Nadda wants Sonia Gandhi's apology for Congress rally slogans against PM Narendra Modi.

  "In the Congress rally yesterday, slogans were raised against PM Modi. This shows the Congress party's thinking and mentality. Saying such things against a Prime Minister is condemnable. Sonia Gandhi ji should apologise to the nation for this," ANI quoted Nadda as saying.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:20:32 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Government to introduce VB G-Ram-G bill to replace MANREGA

  The Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) VB—G RAM G BILL, 2025 entails a higher spending by the state governments. While the Scheme shall be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the fund-sharing pattern between the central government and the state governments shall be 90:10 for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States and Union territory (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir), and 60:40 for all other states and Union territories with legislature, HT had earlier reported.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:14:17 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Lok Sabha adjourned till noon

  Parliament winter session live updates: Lok Sabha proceedings have been adjourned till noon.

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:09:41 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned

  Parliament winter session live updates: Rajya Sabha stands adjourned

• 15 Dec 2025, 11:07:02 AM IST

  Parliament winter session live updates: Final week begins

  Parliament winter session live updates: Parliament proceedings for the day have begun.