A session underway in Rajya Sabha.Parliament Monsoon Session Live Updates: Opposition parties on Sunday moved a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh after he overruled opposition pleas for postponing Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s reply to the debate on the two farm bills till Monday as the scheduled sitting time of the House was over.
The Upper House of Parliament passed The Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, through voice vote. “He (Harivansh) should safeguard the democratic traditions but instead, his attitude today harmed the democratic traditions & processes. So, we have decided to move a no-confidence motion against him,” news agency ANI quoted Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel as saying.
TMC MP Derek O’Brien accused the government of murdering the Parliamentary system and democracy. In a video, shared via his Twitter handle, O’Brien said, “The government did not allow us in the Opposition on the farmers’ bills… They knew they weren’t in a position to pass the bills, so they cut RSTV feed so that the country couldn’t see our protest.”
The farmers orotest in Haryana will take place from 12 pm to 3 pm. (Photo: Twiiter/CaptAjayYadav)
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran criticised the government and prime minister for imposing lockdown abruptly within four hours of announcement. "Everytime PM comes to speak at 8 pm, there's a bad news. Similar thing happened in 2016 when he announced demonetisation and made people stand in queues to withdraw their own money."
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said: "Today in the Rajya Sabha two agriculture reform bills have been passed. Farmers were forced to sell their produce in Mandis at unfair prices earlier. Now they can sell to anyone at their own decided prices. MSPs will stay. It's a historic day today."
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that most of the countries across the world have either managed to keep its country safe from the virus at the cost of their economy or have kept the economy running while experiencing the onslaught of the disease. "India has become the poster child of the worst case scenario (during pandemic). We have the worst of both worlds. We have neither managed to limit the spread of the virus nor have we managed to keep the economy afloat. GDP for the first time in 41 years will actually shrink," he said.
Discussion under Rule 193 on Covid-19 pandemic begins in Lok Sabha.
The government on Sunday sought to make provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2011 more stringent through a bill that proposes to include “public servants” in the prohibited category, decrease administrative expenses through foreign funds by an organisation to 20% from 50% earlier, make Aadhaarmandatory for registration and give government powers to stop utilisation of foreign funds by an organisation through a “summary enquiry”. The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020, introduced in Lok Sabha by Home Minister Amit Shah at 3 pm, says the need to strengthen the Act has arisen due to several organisation “misutilising or misappropriating” the funds leading to the government cancelling 19,000 such registrations in the past few years.
Foreign Contribution Regulation (Amendment) Bill introduced in Lok Sabha. Discussion on.
Lok Sabha proceedings resume at 4 pm.
PM Modi re-iterated that MSP mechanism will remain. "I said it earlier and I say it once again: System of MSP will remain. Government procurement will continue. We are here to serve our farmers. We will do everything possible to support them and ensure a better life for their coming generations."
After two contentious farm bills were passed in the Upper House of Parliament amid ruckus on Sunday, Opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ahmed Patel said, "He (Harivansh) should safeguard the democratic traditions but instead, his attitude today harmed the democratic traditions & processes. So, we have decided to move a no-confidence motion against him."
PM Modi said the passage of bills will ensure easier access to futuristic technology for farmers. "Our agriculture sector is in desperate need of latest technology that assists the industrious farmers. Now, with the passage of the bills, our farmers will have easier access to futuristic technology that will boost production and yield better results. This is a welcome step," he tweeted.
PM Modi further wrote: "For decades, the Indian farmer was bound by various constraints and bullied by middlemen. The bills passed by Parliament liberate the farmers from such adversities. These bills will add impetus to the efforts to double income of farmers and ensure greater prosperity for them."
After the passage of the two farm bills in Rajya Sabha on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the "hardworking farmers" saying: "A watershed moment in the history of Indian agriculture! Congratulations to our hardworking farmers on the passage of key bills in Parliament, which will ensure a complete transformation of the agriculture sector as well as empower crores of farmers."
Lok Sabha witnessed an unprecedented adjournment after Congress insisted on discontinuing the proceedings in order to break the stalemate in the Rajya Sabha where the opposition has been protesting over the government’s move to push the contentious farm bills. The house proceedings will resume at 4 pm when it takes up COVID pandemic situation for a discussion.
When the house met at 3pm Congress MPs stood up and its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury asked the speaker to adjourn the proceedings till the “stalemate” in the Rajya Sabha is ended. In the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said since the new arrangements require the Lok Sabha MPs to be seated in both the chambers, the proceedings should be adjourned till the issue is resolved. Although Speaker Om Birla initially assured that he would adjourn the proceedings if both the chamber and the galleries of the Lok Sabha are full, Chowdhury insisted on adjourning the proceedings. The Speaker then adjourned the proceedings till 4 pm. - Inputs from Liz Mathew
TMC MP Derek O'Brien accused the government of murdering Parliamentary system and the democracy. In a video, shared via his Twitter handle, O'Brien said, "The government did not allow us in the Opposition on the farmers' bills... They know they weren't in a position to pass the bills so they cut RSTV feed so that the country couldn't see our protest."
Roads blocked in Sonipat, Hisar, Fatehabad.
JJP MLA Jogiram Sihag opposes farms bills, joins hands with agitator farmers. Ready to resign, if needed, Sihag says. JJP of Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala is an alliance partner in Haryana's BJP-JJP government.
The Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, were passed by voice vote amid ruckus by Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha.
The session in the Rajya Sabha has resumed.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.
TMC MP Derek O'Brien entered the well of the House and showed the House rule book to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh. (Screengrab)