The Parliament’s winter session is to begin from November 29, Monday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government has a heavy plan for the winter session with its legislative business, including 26 new bills.
After the previous week, when the bill to repeal farm laws was passed in the Lok Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur reported that the Bill to repeal the three contentious farm laws will be dealt with priority in the winter session.
The government has indicated the farm laws bill will be taken up on the very first day. The government’s agenda for the 2021 winter session includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill.
Pralhad Joshi, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, has convened an all-party meeting in the Parliament at 11 am on Sunday (November 28) to discuss the agenda for the upcoming winter session and essential businesses.
The opposition party leader in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharje, called upon all the opposition parties to gather on Monday (November 29) to create consensus over the issues raised in the Parliament.
Opposition leaders have also planned to meet one hour before the session begins to finalize the houses’ strategy to highlight the “failure of the Central government especially on three farm laws” and the rising inflation and other significant issues about business and industry.
After the winter session of Parliament, a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha (BAC) has been scheduled for November 29 at 10 am. BJP’s parliamentary Executive Committee has scheduled a special meeting separately at Parliament Annexe today.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has also called a meeting of the floor leaders. Three of the bills of the government’s plan are intended to replace ordinances. A three-line whip has been issued by Congress to its MP’s of Rajya Sabha, asking them to be present in the house on November 29.
On the Farm Laws
On the first day of the winter session of Parliament today, the government of India moved the “Three Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021” in the Rajya Sabha after the Union Cabinet passed it earlier the previous week on Wednesday, November 24. The Bill was circulated among Rajya Sabha members on Friday, November 26.
The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha via voice note amid sloganeering by opposition MP’s and is to be tabled at 2 pm on the Rajya Sabha front in today’s session. Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar placed the farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 before the house in the morning.
Congress leader Adhiraj Ranjan Chaudhary demanded a discussion but was disallowed by speaker Om Birla.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) party wanted to discuss the repeal of the three farm laws. Still, the government is afraid to initiate any discussion in the farmer’s context since they don’t want to highlight the condition and plight of farmers and face any embarrassment.
The government, therefore, isn’t giving the opposition any chance to speak on behalf of the farmers. Said TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.
However, farmers at Delhi borders have been asked by the Pm to return to their homes in his address to the nation on Guru Purab. Still, they have continued to protest and have declined to end their agitation despite the government agreeing to cater to their primary demand of repealing the three farm laws.
The farmers wait for the complete repeal of the statutes by authentic means of passing through the Parliament and swear to sit for protest until then.
Farmers have been protesting outside of the Noida authority’s main administrative building located in sector 6 for the past two and a half months seeking hiked compensation for their land acquired for the development, 1000 square metres of residential plot and changes in building regulations in villages.
On Thursday, November 25, Meerut division Commissioner Surendra Singh and the Chief Executive Officer of Noida Authority Ritu Maheshwari requested the farmers in a meeting with a 10-member farmer delegation to end the agitation and assured them that the government and measures are looking upon their demands are being taken to provide cater to all the needs “They (the authority officials) said the state government will look into our demands and take appropriate action.
But we don’t trust the officials of the Noida authority because they keep changing their stands on our demands. We have decided that our agitation will end only after the authority accepts our demands and takes necessary action in a board meeting,” said Sukhbir Yadav, founder president of Bhartiya Kisan Parishad that is leading the protest.
The farmers have refused to vacate the protest site and seek a law to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
Nevertheless, the protest continues; the government has started addressing the repeal of farm laws on a high priority concern and is looking forward to resolving all the issues and overcoming the problematic areas in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament.
The session is scheduled to conclude on December 23, 2021.
