The Rajya Sabha on February 3 allotted additional five hours for discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in which the farmers’ protests and related issues will be discussed.
This comes a day after both Houses of the Parliament were adjourned over the Opposition’s protests over the farm laws.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi informed the House that there was a consensus to give more time for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. Thus, he said, the Question Hour will be suspended on February 3 and February 4 to make up for the discussions on the issue. The Zero Hour scheduled for February 5 will be suspended as well.
Follow our Farmers' Protest LIVE Updates here
Leader of the House Ghulam Nabi Azad backed Joshi’s statement. Azad said that 18-19 Opposition parties wanted to discuss farmers’ issues in the additional 5 hours allotted for discussion on President's address.
This brings the total time slotted for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha to 15 hours.
"Normally this is not done. But there is a specific request and broad consensus, hence I am allowing it,” Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said.
February 3 is the fourth business day of the ongoing Budget Session that started on January 29. The first two days which also saw the presentation of Budget 2021, passed off without any protests.
The Opposition parties boycotted the president's address on January 29. In his address, President Ram Nath Kovind condemned the violence during the tractor’s rally on Republic Day while asserting that with the new three agricultural reforms, the government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers.
Enacted in September 2020, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector. But the opposition parties allege that the farm laws were brought 'without any consultations with states and farmer unions and lacked national consensus'.
Thousands of protesting farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for over two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops.