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Rajya Sabha drops Question Hour, Zero Hour to give more time to budget discussion
An official said that government and Opposition have reached an agreement to skip the Question Hour and Zero Hour - which take place from 11 am to 1 pm.
In a bid to give more time for discussion on Union Budget, Rajya Sabha dropped the Question Hour and Zero Hour. This arrangement will help add two hours extra to the debate on the general budget.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had been credited to reading out India’s longest budget on February 1.
The Lok Sabha has been able to already start the discussion on the budget while the Rajya Sabha will begin the discussion on the budget on Monday.
According to a senior official in Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu’s office, the government and the Opposition have reached an agreement to skip the Question Hour and Zero Hour - which take place from 11 am to 1 pm - to allot more time to the budget.
According to the official, senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad raised issue of availability of time for budget session in the House as only two days are available till February 11 before the House enters into the recess.
The Lok Sabha will also see the introduction of The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020.
The bill provides for the establishment of an Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda and to declare it as an Institution of national importance for the promotion of quality and excellence in education, research and training in Ayurveda and allied disciplines.
Several ministers will lay papers on the table in the Rajya Sabha concerning their departments. Among them include Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Arjun Meghwal, Miniter of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria and Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Pratap Chandra Sarangi.
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan will move a motion of election to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The motion says: “That in pursuance of sub-rule (xxiii) of Rule 1 read with sub-rule (ii) of Rule 15 of the Rules and Regulations of the Indian Council of Medical Research, this House do proceed to elect, in such manner as the Chairman may direct, one Member from amongst the Members of the House to be a member of the Governing Body of the Indian Council of Medical Research.”
