Govt May Face Brickbats From Opposition In Parliament

In the upcoming  Monsoon Session of  Parliament from July 19  to August 13, the opposition will put the government in the dock for what they call failure on all fronts including mismanaging the strategy to contain the second phase of Coronavirus impacting people’s lives and livelihoods. The biggest opposition Congress is in the process of finalizing a 6-point agenda including  COVID management, border issues, farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, unemployment caused by COVID, Rafale purchase skyrocketing fuel prices. The opposition will demand afresh a Joint Parliamentary probe in alleged corruption involving Rafale fighter aircraft from a French company. Kolkata headquartered  All-India Trinamool Congress which has retained power in West Bengal for the third term is expected to raise the role of State Governor Jagdip Dhankhar to accuse him for creating hurdles for the implementation of welfare schemes and sitting over some legislations forwarded for his nod. The WB’s ruling party is not happy over the conduct of the assembly elections for 294 seats by The Election Commission of India spreading over 8 phases. The issue is also expected to be raised by the TMC. Lok Sabha Speaker  OM Birla said the session will be from 11 am to 6 pm for both the Houses in view of the covid-19 situation. All necessary protocols and arrangements are being made to accommodate members of Parliament (MPs) on a social distancing basis. Members and media persons will be allowed in accordance with Covid-19 rules. “RTPCR test is not mandatory. We will request those who have not undergone vaccination to undergo a test,” the speaker said. “Those without having received a jab would be made to undergo the compulsory test at a gap not exceeding every two weeks and this would have to be followed not only by MPs, but anybody entering the Parliament premises’’, he made it clear. Answering a question on Monday, July 12 he said, so far, 444 members of the Lok Sabha and 218 members of the Rajya Sabha have reportedly been vaccinated against Covid-19. Some MPs have not been able to take their second jabs as they were affected by Covid-19. Meanwhile, The central government after the major reshuffle of the Council of Ministers proposes to table 23 Bills. Out of 23, 17 of them will be new Bills to be introduced in the House,  three others are meant to replace ordinances including The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, The Essential Defence Service Bill and The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill. The government also proposes to bring about legislative changes that are prerequisites to pave the way for privatisation of the insurance companies. As announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, one PSU  general insurance company will be privatised. For this purpose, an amendment to the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 (GIBNA) is on the cards. Edited by PK Chakravarty