Price rise, Agnipath, ‘misuse’ of agencies: Govt, oppn to clash on key issues during Monsoon session of Parliament | India News

Opposition parties meet before commencement of the Monsoon session (ANI)

NEW DELHI: The Monsoon session of parliament, commencing from Monday, is likely to see the opposition trying to corner the government on the Agnipath scheme and issues like price rise and list of ‘unparliamentary’ words.
Sunday saw leaders from various parties attend an all-party meeting convened by the government. Separately, leaders from several opposition parties met at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi on Sunday to chalk out a strategy for the session.
Sources said the opposition leaders were unanimous in their demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.
The government on the other hand, said 32 bills have been indicated by various departments for presentation in two houses, of which 14 are ready.
“Thirty two bills have been indicated by various departments for being presented in this session of Parliament, of which 14 bills are ready, but we will not pass the bills without discussion,” parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters after an all party meeting.
“Thirty two bills have been indicated by various departments for being presented in this session of Parliament, of which 14 bills are ready, but we will not pass the bills without discussion,” he told reporters.
Bills listed by the government for the session include the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to rationalise the government’s role in cooperatives and increase participation in the working of multi-state cooperative societies.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill seeks to strengthen the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code by introducing provisions on cross-border insolvency.
Two separate bills for Constitution amendment to revise the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu are also listed for introduction.
The ‘Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill’ seeks to replace the 155-year-old ‘Press and Registration of Books Act’ with a simplified version that decriminalises various provisions and brings digital media under its ambit.
However the opposition felt that the 14-day session is too short to discuss all the issues raised by the opposition.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wondered how 32 bills will get passed in 14 days.
“We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI,” Kharge said.
Pralhad Joshi, however, hit out at the opposition and accused them of belittling Parliament by making issues out of non-issues.
“The opposition is trying to make issues out of non-issues as they do not have anything against the government. It is trying to belittle the image of Parliament,” he said on the row over unparliamentary words.
When asked about the opposition demand for withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme, Joshi said “We are open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of parliament.”