Opposition continued their protest inside the Lok Sabha premises for the second week. Their protest has only been ramped up after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended six MPs for their "unruly behaviour."
After a long reply by the Agriculture Minister on the agrarian crisis, the Rajya Sabha passed the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
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6.20 pm: After special mentions, the House was adjourned till tomorrow.
6.15 pm: After Ripun Bora (Congress, Assam), Vijila Sathyananth (AIADMK, T.N.) and Manish Gupta (Trinamool Congress, W.B.) spoke on the bill and the HRD MoS’s reply, the bill has been moved and passed.
5.35 pm: D. Raja (CPI, T.N.) says higher education is undergoing a crisis due to lack of funding. “We used to discuss braindrain, now the issue is under-employment,” he says joining the other speakers in raising the issue of employability. He suggest affirmative action for SC/ST and OBC in such higher education institutions and students from these sections should get some help from meeting the expenses of education in such institutions.
5.28 pm: V. Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP, A.P.) thanks the govt. for the IISER, Tirupati. But he seeks an explanation how long would it take for the govt. to finish the project with low fund allocation. He also advocates industry-university linkage.
5.26 pm: Vandana Chavan (NCP, Maharashtra) points out the abysmally low participation of women in IITs and NITs and seeks the government’s response to right the gender imbalance.
5.22 pm: Rajaram (BSP, U.P.) draws attention to low quality of faculty in higher eduction, especially technical education. The number of higher institutions is disproportionally low in in U.P. compared to its population and land mass.
5.15 pm: A.U. Singh Deo (BJD, Odisha), while thanking an IISER in Odisha says institution cannot be built by just establishing it. Curricula is not industry-specific, he says. Wants more such institutes in the backward region of Bolangir.
5.10 pm: Ritabrata Banerjee (CPI(M), West Bengal) laments that the aim of such institutions — to provide quality education to the poor and the needy — is not achieved. He joins Prof. Gowda in pointing out the unemployability of our engineering graduates. Quoting on a BRICS paper he says our average spending on engineering education is the lowest in the rouping. “More than 80% engineering graduates end up in non-engineering jobs,” he says.
Rakes up the issue of tolerance. He says tolerance is an important ingredient in advancing education and quotes the first Prime Minister.
5.07 pm: Harivansh (JD(U), Bihar) quotes Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar to say that if the spirit of education is not properly infused establishing and funding education institutions will do no good.
5 pm: Mahesh Poddar (BJP, Jharkhand) points out why new institutes are being set up in places A.P. where there are so many such colleges, whereas places like Bihar are not getting any more.
4:50 pm: Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda speaks on the bill. “In the Internet era we should reimagine how such institutions are built,” he says offers to brainstorm with the HRD Ministry on such reimagination.
He also asks about the status of an Institute for Scientific and Engineering Research promised for Nagaland.
The former IIM-Bangalore professor also advocates building bridges with the industry and NGOs.
He gets a pat from the Chair for his “valuable suggestions with intellectual inputs”.
4.39 pm: After the loooooooong speech by the Agriculture Minister, the House takes up the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2017. HRD MoS Mahandra Nath Pandey introduces the bill.
4:30 pm: Deputy Chair tells the Agriculture Minister to conclude. And Mr. Singh pays scant attention and continues to reel out statistics on the Modi dispensation’s welfare measures.
Visibly annoyed Deputy Chair reminds Mr. Minister to conclude. Mr. Kurien rings the bells and tells him to conclude. “You cannot continue like this...” Rings the bell again.
Angry Chair admonishes Minister, saying “I can say nothing can go on record. Please don't let me do this.”
Minister seeks two more minutes and goes on saying he's talking about farm insurance. He's been gently reminded by other senior members too. But to no avail.
Finally Mr. Singh concludes (he has spoken for a full hour plus 15 minutes), relieved Treasury benches too applaud. Mr. Naqvi says he has just given half his speech, rest is still-delivered.
Digvijaya Singh goads the Minister to make the speech in front of protesting farmers at Jantar Mantar.
4:15 pm As Mr. Singh's lengthy speech doesn't appear to end soon, Deputy Chairman asks how long will he talk.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at Rajya Sabha
Opposition MPs are getting restless. They urge the minister to respond to their specific questions.
4:10 pm We are considering to implement both Ramesh Chand report and Swaminathan Committee report. We have disbursed funds from National Disaster Relief Fund to help farmers, but Centre cannot waive off farm loans, he says.
4:00 pm We have tweaked the crop insurance scheme to allow claims even if the loss is one-third the production. The premium is shared between Centre and the State to reduce the burden of the farmer, Mr. Singh says.
We have encouraged farmers to collectively apply for loans. Loans worth Rs. 30,000 crore has been disbursed in three years.
3:50 pm: Mr. Singh says of the total suicides reported in India, eight to 10 per cent are by farmers. He blames climate change and failure of monsoon as the reason behind farmer distress. A national committee constituted to study suicides came up with this reason, he says.
The committee has suggested to augment alternative income to farmers by focusing on livestock, dairy and apiary.
3:45 pm: In Rajya Sabha, Mr. Singh continues with his speech. He explains how the country increased the production of foodgrains, pulses and milk over the years.
Digvijaya Singh interrupts the speech. The data is available. It is matter of record. We want to know from you why farmers committed suicide and why did you reduce the import duty on wheat when we had a bumper harvest, he asks.
3:40 pm The IIIT Bill is taken up for voting. Congress MPs protest. "You walked out when we had a discussion on agrarian crisis," says Ananth Kumar. Lok Sabha is adjourned without taking the Bill for division.
3:35 pm Mr. Singh in Rajya Sabha:The government is for development of livestock, fisheries, dairy, apiary, along with agriculture. In the last years, we have brought a number of schemes for the welfare of the farmers. Many of these schemes will reap benefits in the long term.
3:30 pm In Lok Sabha, Prakash Javadekar replies to the debate on IIIT Bill. Congress MPs continue with sloganeering. The House will then take up the Bill for voting.
3:28 pm: Mr. Singh recalls green revolution, how it helped the country to be self sustainable in foodgrain production. Mr. Singh claims the benefits of green revolution has helped only farmers who own more that 10 acres of land.
3:25 pm: Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh replies to yesterday's discussion on agrarian crisis. Twenty-six parliamentarians participated in the debate yesterday. A host if issues such as Mandsaur farmer killing, farmer suicides, loan sharks, loan waiver, failure of monsoon, MSP, import of foodgrains were discussed among others.
3:20 pm: Rajya Sabha passes The Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
3:19 pm: The Bill goes for voting.
3:15 pm: Census is in the Union list. The rights of Kashmiris are not infringed through this Bill, he says. Mr. Gowda says the data collected from Jammu and Kashmir will be used for the development of the region.
We had sent a cabinet note regarding the Bill to the Kashmir government. But they haven't responded to it, says Mr. Gowda.
3:10 pm Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi responds. He says he wants peace in every part of India, not just Kashmir.
Statistics Minister Sadananda Gowda responds. He says only residuary powers rest with the State government. The parliament has absolute power, he says throwing his weight behind the Bill.
3:00 pm Ghulam Nabi Azad raises to speak in Rajya Sabha. He takes a dig on government to highlight special status accorded to Kashmir but silent on incentives given to other States. There are lot of misinformation on this status, he says.
Mr. Azad claims national parties and Kashmir's political parties were not asked for suggestions before bringing up the Bill.
He urges the government to pause the debate, take it up with the State government and then bring the Bill to the House, he says.
2:50 pm: Rajya Sabha Harivansh and D. Raja also warm the possible misuse of collected data. Rahman Khan of Congress says the Bill undermines the spirit of Article 370. Such a law cannot be enacted without the approval of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Mr. Khan also points out that the powers of nodal officer is not defined in the Bill.
2:40 pm: Rahul Shwale, Shiv Sena, while supporting the Bill in Lok Sabha urges the government to bring an IIIT in Maharashtra too. He also uses the time to raise the issue of mass layoff in IT industry. He recalls how a youth committed suicide in Pune claiming there is no job security in IT sector.
2:36 pm: Vijaisai Reddy (YSRCP) ponders over the removed clause. He notes how the Central government and few State governments enumerated caste census. If this clause is removed, what guarantee is there that such data will not be misused?
2:33 pm: Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy says he would have supported the Bill, but there is gross injustice. He raises the issue of Anurag Thakur 'let off with warning' for the same action that caused suspension of Bhagawant Mann last year.
Regarding the Bill, Dr. Roy says there should be a national curriculum for information technology education so that there's uniformity.
2:30 pm C.P. Narayanan speaks in Rajya Sabha. While collection of data is important, it is also important to know how they are being used. The collection of data should be dealt with scientifically, he says.
2:25 pm: Chair objects to the continuous sloganeering of Congress MPs in Lok Sabha. He urges the parliamentarians to get back to the seat. Mr. Kharge responds, we will obey but the government is not allowing a discussion.
2:21 pm: In Rajya Sabha, S.R. Balasubramoniyan (AIADMK) wants to know if the government of Jammu and Kashmir has concurred with the passage of the Bill.
Harivansh (JD-U) too raises the same point. Though he agrees that statistics and collection of data is important, he raises concerns on the removal of clause that limits the usage for statistics purpose only.
2:20 pm: Lok Sabha reconvenes. Deputy Speaker Thambidurai is in the Chair. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar introduces the The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2017 to include IIIT Kurnool to the list.
Sloganeering continues in Lok Sabha. Debate too continues.
2:05 pm: The Chair allots one hour time to debate on the Bill. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh points out that 97 items on the Union List is now included and is applicable to Jammu and Kashmir as well.
2:00 pm Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Sadananda Gowda introduces the The Collection of Statistics (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The Bill seeks to amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 to extend its jurisdiction to Jammu and Kashmir too.
The Bill will allow government to collect data pertaining to citizenship, education, banking, labour and forests. While the original Act limits the usage of information collected only for the purpose of statistics, the amendment seeks to remove this clause.
1:15 pm: Lok Sabha is adjourned. Will meet again at 2:15 pm.
1:10 pm Sushma Swaraj ends the statement saying she will not declare anyone dead until she gets concrete evidence.
1:05 pm Sushma Swaraj tells Lok Sabha that she is in touch with the families of missing Indians. I keep telling them not to lose hope. I share the details with them, she says.
Last year, six families from Punjab visited me. They said after 45 years, they received information that those persons who were declared dead in the India Pakistan war are actually alive in Pakistan prisons. While Pakistan denies these claims, the family is seeking my help, she says.
An Army person who was declared dead and awarded Param Vir Chakra returned after the Chinese released him from prison, she goes on to say.
1:03 pm In the meantime, Question Hour ends in Rajya Sabha. House is adjourned till 2 pm.
1:00 pm Gen V.K.Singh has received some some pictures of captured Indians. Our intelligence inputs said they are in Badush jail. The captured Indians were made to work by the Islamic State and later they were sent to Badush jail. We don't have any information if they are still in the jail, she says.
12:56 pm I have spoken to my Turkey counterpart. They are helping us in tracing the missing Indians. Other countries are also willing to help, she says.
Vietnam is still searching those who were believed to be killed in the War. United States is still searching those who were believed to be killied during second World War.
I am still calling them as "missing persons," will continue to search for them, she reiterates.
12:54 pm I will inform the House if I get any concrete evidence, says Ms. Swaraj. Opposition is alleging that I'm misleading the House. It is a sin to declare someone is dead without any evidence. I will not do that sin, she says.
Mr. Kharge opposes Opposition's reference. She agrees with him.
12:52 pm When one person says they have been killed, six sources said they are alive. What should I do? asks Ms. Swaraj.
I don't have evidence to say they are alive, but I don't have proof to say they are dead. So we are continuing with the search operation, Ms. Swaraj.
12:50 pm One Harjeet Massi informed the government that 40 Indians have been captured by the Islamic State. They have killed all of them. I was the only one who managed to escape, he said.
I asked the Embassy to collect evidence. We didn't get any evidence of mass killing. So we started to search for Indians, she says.
12:47 pm Ms. Swaraj makes statement thanking Mr. Kharge for ensuring her to make the statement.
12:45 pm D. Raja asks about displacement of tribals in Polavaram. The minister responds. In the meantime Lok Sabha reconvenes.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge urges Sushma Swaraj to make statement.
12:40 pm Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Question Hour is taken up after the Vice President assures the statement will be examined.
Vijaisai Reddy asks why Tribal Advisory Council has not been set up in Andhra Pradesh for the past three years. Tribal affairs Minister Jual Oram replies it is the State government's job to set up the Council.
12:20 pm Lok Sabha adjourned till 12:45 pm. Rajya Sabha too is adjourned for 10 minutes.
12:12 pm Ms. Swaraj doesn't make a statement. Zero Hour begins. In a rare precedent, Ms. Mahajan speaks regarding yesterday's event. She clarifies that her office deleted the whole statement of Veerendra Kumar instead of deleting the names. It appeared that he targetting Jyotiraditya Scindia. This was an error from our side, she says.
"I apologize for the mistake. The misinterpretation of Veerendra Kumar's statement is due to that. Will give Kumar a chance today."
It was brought to my notice that Anurag Thakur was using mobilephone in the session. He has to apologise if it is true, she says. Ms. Mahajan warns Mr. Thakur not to repeat it. Mr. Thakur expresses regret.
12:10 pm In Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj begins to make a statement on missing Indians in Iraq. But opposition MPs continue with sloganeering.
"I won't make a statement until they get back to the seats," says Ms. Swaraj. Don't you want to know what is happening to Indians in Mosul, asks Sumitra Mahajan, requesting MPs to go back to the seat.
Mr. Kharge insists on debate on lynchings and agrarian crisis. "We will allot time for this. Right now, allow her (Ms. Swaraj) to speak," says Ms. Mahajan
12:10 pm Ten minutes into the proceedings, there is no sign of Question Hour in Rajya Sabha. Mr. Ansari adjourns the House for 10 minutes.
12:05 pm The most telegenic person in the House is Arun Jaitley. I never expected the Leader of the House to denegrate the Opposition like this, says Kapil Sibal.
If you are concerned about the sanctity of the House, then please continue with the Question Hour, says Union Minister Smriti Irani.
12:04 pm Naresh Agrawal, Anand Sharma, D Raja too join the issue in Rajya Sabha. They want Mr. Jaitley's remarks expunged.
"The Deputy Chairman has already said he will look into the records and take a call. He was in the Chair. He will take a call," says Mr. Ansari.
12:02 pm In Lok Sabha, papers are being laid on the Table. Opposition MPs storm the Well and shout slogans.
12:00 noon Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Ghulam Nabi Azad wants Mr. Jaitley's remarks be expunged from the proceedings. "We know the television is in favour of the ruling party," he says. Vice-President Hamid Ansari is in the Chair.
11:53 am Bhagwant Mann of AAP says sometimes when seats are shown unavailable in ticketing system, touts are able to provide tickets by demanding extra money.
We are doubling tracks, increased the availability of berth. We are running a campaign against touts. We hope the issue will be sorted out when we augment our capacity, says Mr. Prabhu.
11:48 am D B Mahadik asks about touts and illegal vendors in railway stations. Why not allow self help groups to set up shops in stations and employ them for customer service? This will help control touts, he says.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu says the government has launched a comprehensive app for ticket reservation. This can be used even if you do not have a smartphone. We have an alternative travel scheme, Vikalp. We have been continuously taking action against illegal vendors and touts, says Mr. Prabhu.
He says he'll consider employing SHGs in catering and other services.
11:45 am Dr Mamtaz Sangamitra asks in Lok Sabha what projects are being taken up to develop urban slums. Her question is specific to the metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
The government has a vision to providing housing for all be 2022, says Rao Indrajit Singh. But housing is a State subject. We are providing funds to States who want to redevelop slums.
11:40 am Rajya Sabha is adjourned upto 12 noon.
11:38 am Tiruchi Siva speaks in favour of Congress MPs. He objects Mr. Jaitley's television remarks. Mr. Jaitley refutes his allegation. Please do not provide an alibi for them, he says.
11:35 am In Lok Sabha, Question Hour continues amid sloganeering. Questions on new industrial training centres.
11:30 am Shwait Malik talks about how children desert their elderly parents. He urges government to bring laws to help oldage people, ensure social security for them.
Now Congress MPs shout slogans in Rajya Sabha. They storm the Well.
11:28 am "Most of the issues raised are neither Point of Order nor Rule 267. The Rule 267 is grossly misused. We can't allow Zero Hour run just for television camera," says Arun Jaitley.
11:25 am Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma claims the government is deliberately hiding the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He is referring to the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's birth centenary celebrations. This cannot be taken up in Zero Hour, says the Chair.
11:24 am Rules and interpretation of rules cause commotion in Rajya Sabha. Certain MPs move Rule 267, suspension of day's business. Senior MPs move Point of Order. Everything is costing the time of Zero Hour, complain some MPs.
In the meantime a member from Treasury Bench also raise Rule 267. He wants to discuss Samjautha leaks. A visibly upset Mr. Kurien says it is the government who decide the list of business after discussing with the Secretary and Chairman. "Then how can you move suspension?" he asks.
11:20 am Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says 4,650 Jews are residing in India and they have been accorded minority status in India. He says Jains have also been accorded minority status and a representative has been included in the National Minorities Commission for the first time. This is during Question Hour in Lok Sabha.
11:15 am Ghulam Nabi Azad joins the issue. He asks if it is RBI's prerogative, then why did the Prime Minister announce demonetisation? Tiruchi Siva and Sharad Yadav also joins the issue. Arun Jaitley is in Rajya Sabha but he refuses to comment.
11:10 am Zero Hour proceedings begin in Rajya Sabha. Naresh Agrawal raises point of Order. He urges the government to stop printing Rs. 2000 currency notes. Deputy Chairman rejects it saying it is the prerogative of RBI.
11:05 am Question Hour begins in Lok Sabha. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu answers question related to development of railway stations through PPP model.
11:02 am Lok Sabha proceedings begin. Congress MPs want question hour to be suspended. They also request the Speaker to revoke suspension of MPs. The Speaker rejects their demands. Opposition MPs shout "Bandh Karo, Bandh Karo".
11:00 am Both Houses assemble. Rajya Sabha pays homage to two former members who passed away recently.