Lok Sabha passes Child Labour Amendment Bill on seventh day of Parliament's Monsoon Session

BJP’s Parliamentary Committee met before business on Tuesday, the seventh day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, to discuss how to beat the stalemate on Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill. In Rajya Sabha, DMK leader Kanimozhi and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan raised the issue of increasing rape cases and atrocities as soon as the session started. Deputy chairman PJ Kurien asked them to “put in a notice”. [caption id=“attachment_2917220” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The issue of atrocities on Dalits also continued to rock the House. BSP chief Mayawati claimed that Dalits have been suppressed ever since the BJP came to power in the Centre. The other major issues discussed on Tuesday were: Fairness Cream advertisements: Viplove Thakur of Congress raised the matter of fairness cream advertisements, calling them racist and saying they are causing an inferiority complex. A demand for banning such advertisements was made in the Rajya Sabha. Thakur said, “Advertisements of products like Fair & Lovely and Ponds face creams are demeaning for women. They say you apply the cream and you will become fair, and many women fall into the trap thinking it make them look beautiful. It is creating an inferiority complex in women,” Thakur added. Compensation to Una victims: Madhusudan Mistry of the Congress said that victims of Dalit atrocities in Una town of Gujarat have not been paid the Rs 4 lakh compensation. He said only Rs 1 lakh has been paid so far. “Don’t they have money or they don’t want to give. Why is there an apathy on the part of the government,” he asked. Banned drugs still being sold: In the Lok Sabha, chemicals and fertilisers minister Ananth Kumar raised the issue of banned drugs which are still being sold. As many as 439 drugs, including brands like Phensedyl and Corex, which have been banned for sale and distribution, continue to be available in the markets due to the intervention of courts, he said. Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination: Subramaniam Swamy tried to raise the issue of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. However, it led to a heated exchange between him and Congress members in the Rajya Sabha. Swamy said Gandhi’s mortal remains were not subjected to any post-mortem and as a consequence there was a dispute on the number of bullets fired. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day following an uproar by Congress MPs over taking up a private member’s Bill for grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh. Despite Kurien insisting that it was not possible to take up the bill for voting on Tuesday, Congress MPs kept yelling “We want voting”. Missing AN-32 aircraft: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar told the Rajya Sabha that there were about four to five small leads with regards to the AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, which went missing four days ago. Child Labour Amendment Bill: The Child Labour Bill was taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha, and BJP MP Varun Gandhi said, “It is a form of slavery, not skill training. India has the largest number of child labourers in the world.” RK Ray of the BJP said more children being forced to work is another problem that can be blamed on over-population. Bihar MP Pappu Yadav vowed to resign if he was unable to eliminate child labour completely from his constituency. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 was finally passed in the Lok Sabha after a heated discussion.