Parliament Live: Rajya Sabha passes land bill, adjourned till tomorrow

10.50 pm: Rajya Sabha passes land bill, adjourned till tomorrow The Rajya Sabha today passed the historic land acquisition bill after a five hour long debate. The bill got 131 votes for it and 10 votes against it during division. The house has been adjourned till tomorrow. 10.00 pm: Land bill applicable on SEZ, says Jairam Ramesh In reply to Ravi Shankar Prasad’s concerns over misuse of farmer’s lands for SEZ, Ramesh said that the laws made through this bill will be applied to SEZ. On multi-crop irrigated lands, he said “I think no multi-crop irrigated land should be acquired, but Kerala, Punjab opposed amendment because all land in these states are multi-crop irrigated. Hence we will leave it on states to decide whether such land can be acquired. He also added that states have been given full flexibility in the law, and states have rights to decide on some aspects. He said that this bill will make sure that acquired land is not left unused. 9.45 pm: Jairam Ramesh says bill archaic, not poll gimmick Jairam Ramesh clarifies that the basis of Land Bill made in 1984 was archaic and that it is not being amended keeping an eye on elections. “It is an important law and everyone will agree that it needs amendments to make it in favour for farmers and dalits,” Ramesh said. Ramesh said the 1984 Land bill needs amendments as it gives governments power to misuse the law. Ramesh said that the best thing to do would be to follow a middle path so that the government is happy and so are the farmers He said that the it was the first time that rehabilitation of farmers was introduced into the bill and added that there is a separate section for Dalits and tribals. “This bill says that land can be acquired only after consent of a gram sabha, not just consent,” Ramesh said. On forceful acquisition of land, he said, “Provisions for compensation and rehabilitation for farmers cannot be reduced. Also, there is no provision to forcefully take land from farmers.” He added that the Urgency clause cannot be used for private companies, and if at all it is used, the compensation for farmers is higher. 9.37 pm: Ravi Shankar Prasad says SEZ shouldn’t be misused BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad while debating over the Land Acquisiton Bill expressed apprehensions over the misuse of special economic zones. He said examples of such misuse was rife near Delhi, and he asked the the minister if their is a provision in the bill so that farmer’s land is not misused. He also raised questions over the problems of not acquiring multi-crop irrigated land. 8.40pm: Protect the landless class, says CPI’s D Raja D Raja from the CPI wants the government to keep the country informed on the use of land. “The government should produce a white paper of the land used. Only then people will trust the government,” said CPI’s D Raja. “Resale of land should not be allowed if it cannot be returned to the earlier owners. Then the government should acquire the land and distribute it among the landless or encourage cooperative farming,” he said. Raja also focussed on the legal safety of the downtrodden class through this new law. “The bill should protect the interest of landless agricultural people, particularly scheduled castes. The bill should not be a process of liberalisation of the government,” the CPI leader said. 8.30pm: Former land owners should get share of enhanced value, says Yechury CPM’s Sitaram Yechury wants that the earlier owners of the land acquired should also get share of the increased land price after he or she is given compensation, at least, in terms of fixed compensation. “Power of urgency should not be invoked for private purposes,” the CPM leader said. “Had these kind of laws were there before, Singur or Nandigram would never have happened. We are talking with a certain degree of experience,” Yechury. “We want to move in a direction where the land will be finally owned by the tiller. What is required not narrow visions or bitter acrimony. What is necessary is a collective action for a better India,” the CPM leader said. 7.30 pm: Culture, lifestyle of displaced must be retained, says Chandan Mitra in Rajya Sabha Meanwhile in Rajya Sabha, BJP’s Chandan Mitra while praising Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for his efforts warned that the Centre should tread carefully on this sensitive issue. “Indian farmers are not only economically but also psychologically and emotionally associated with land. The land acquisition should be equitable and just compensation must be paid to the farmer,” Mitra said. “Sixteen percent of the global population are confined in 2 percent of world’s land mass which is under the Indian Union,” he said. “The government should give equitable opportunity to the farmers and to the industry. Wasteland development should be a priority of the government. The government must realise that without adequate infrastructure, industries won’t come due to high production cost,” the BJP leader said. Mitra said that the government is dependent on the services sector alone for boosting the GDP while the manufacturing sector and agriculture are going down by the day. “This is not an acceptable situation,” he said. Referring to the land pricing, Mitra said, “The circle rate is a joke. The land mafias and brokers will tell you the actual rate.” Talking about the displacement that will occur due to land acquisition, the BJP leader wanted to know how much the government is equipped to tackle that. “The government must take care so that the location change do not result in pollution of culture and affect lifestyles drastically. One job must also be assured at the minimum wage rate of the government of the affected families,” he said. 6.45pm: Centre’s response was slow, Sharad Yadav on Uttarakhand floods In Lok Sabha, Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav lamented India’s lack of expertise and intent to tackle disaster of large scale like the Uttarakhand rains recently. “Uttarakhand floods was just a glimpse of the darkness that is our future,” Yadav said. “We need to form laws on protecting the Himalayas. Our country depends of on the Himalayan mountains. If glaciers melt India will be in trouble. We used to be a country that was environment friendly. But now we have exploited natrue too much,” he said. The JD(U) chief also criticised the government’s slow response to the catastrophe. “Help from the government during Uttarakhand floods was delayed,” Yadav said. 6.15pm: Lok Sabha discussing natural disaster in Uttarakhand under Rule 193 The Lok Sabha Chair stops the discussion on Uttarakhand which would be continued tomorrow and asks MoS PMO V Narayanasamy to introduce the amendment of RTI Act. However, the AIADMK, led by M Thambidurai vehemently opposes the move even as the minister starts introducing the amendment. But the Speaker finally relents and allows the debate on Uttarakhand to continue. Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj also requested the Leader of the House Sushilkumar Shinde to let the discussion on Uttarakhand go on. “Let the discussion on Uttarakhand go on today. We will take up the amendments of the RTI Act tomorrow,” she said. Shinde agrees, albeit reluctantly, realising the day would be longer today. The discussion on Uttarakhand resumes. 6.00pm: Plug loopholes in rehabilitation, says Ram Gopal Yadav Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav said that the name of the bill should be simplified as it was too long to remember. Yadav also said that the bill has more clauses even then the American constitution amid roars of laughter from both the benches. Although the SP leader supported the bill, he raised some concerns about rehabilitation to farmers as prescribed in the bill. “How is the market rate of the land is determined? When it comes to rehabilitation the circle rate is considered equal to market rate. However, otherwise the market rate is higher than the circle rate. The bill is not clear about it. If this is the norm than the farmers are certainly will be at a loss,” Yadav said. The SP leader also feared that the land bill may give rise to a new crop of land mafia. “When the government will hold Panchayat for land acquisition a new type of land mafias will appear. Even government officials will have to take their help. This will be quite serious. Have you ever thought of that,?” Yadav asked the government. The SP leader also said that the government should make serious effort to plug loopholes in the rehabilitation norms. 5.45pm (Rajya Sabha): Trinamool rejects land bill, Brien calls Left Communist Caesars of Bengal Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’ Brien took on the land policies of the Left in West Bengal when they were in power resulting in stiff opposition from the Left benches. Unable to speak, the Trinamool leader appealed to the Chair to restrain the “Communist Caesars of Bengal” and allow him to speak. The Trinamool leader raised serious objections to the clauses in the Bill allowing acquisition of the multi-crop farm land. “This bill is not good for the farmer. This bill is not for the conscience of the industry. This bill is not for the country,” Brien said making it clear that Trinamool is against the land bill. 5.30pm: (Lok Sabha) Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha passed the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill 2011. It will allow foreign investors to invest in pension funds. Prior to the passing of the bill, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said 28 states have agreed to join the new pension scheme. On recommendations, the minister said, “We have accepted all recommendations except one.” 5.00pm: Mayawati wants Centre to take care of Adivasis Taking on the government for bringing the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill when the Lok Sabha polls are not very far away, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said that the bill is half-baked and made in a hurry. She also criticised the Centre and states for trying to woo the corporates by giving them more land. “More land is given to corporates than they need either by the Centre or by the states. That’s why land acquisition has became complicated. Any decision of the government meant for public good is usually accepted by the people even if there is a delay. However, if public good is not the aim, then there are violent protests, damage to public and private property and it also becomes a law and order issue,” the BSP chief. “What about those stretches of land which are lying unused even after it was given to corporates?” Mayawati asked the Centre. The BSP supremo also said that land is the prime asset of the SC/ST population of the country but their land is being increasingly taken away. “Due to poor rehabilitation, the SC and ST people are suffering. Their source of livelihood is taken away. After that they either join Naxals or commit suicide. This is seen mostly in ST/SC dominated states. Even the emergency clause is misused to take their land away. As a result, these disgruntled people even attack other common citizens leave alone government officials and political leaders,” she said. “My party has always demanded from the Centre to formulate an uniform Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill for the country as a whole,” Mayawati said. “The government must be serious about the rehabilitation and also giving employment to affected parties as per their capabilities,” she said. “If your intentions are clean it is your responsibility to take care of the Adivasi population thrown out of their forest homes in the name of development. Today they struggle even for a square meal,” the BSP chief said. 4.30 pm: Off to Rajya Sabha: Upper House debates on Land Acquisition Bill, BJP’s Vinau Katiyar opens debate Katiyar almost dealing with bill clause by clause. His arguments are almost similar to what BJP president Rajnath Singh had said in the Lower House a few days back. Katiyar’s arguments are mostly based on adequate compensation to farmers, proper appellate authority and the use of barren land first in all states for industrialization. Another important point that the BJP leader raised was on population control. “Population should be controlled whether people like it or not. While the population is increasing, land is not,” he said. 3.21 pm: English lessons for Ms Swaraj! CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta had nothing to say that had not been already said in the Parliamemt. Whatever, like any good Bengali, he reworded and rectified every other argument that the others have presented in the House. Referring to Sushma Swaraj’s ‘stolen files’ comment, Dasgupta said, “The files have not gone missing, the files have not been stolen, the right word is removed. The files were removed,” he said emphatically. “You have removed to files and then leaked the story to the press,” he said looking at a smiling Chidambaram, who by the way, looked ready to doze off. “Yeh koi chhota chori nahin hai (this is not a small theft),” he said regarding the coal scam. “We are not asking the PM. We are asking the Coal Minister who is the PM. It is not the matter of the PM…” he trailed off as Chidambaram looked more and more amused. Prior to this, he had called speaker P C Chacko ‘omnipotent’ when Chacko had tried to discipline him. “You can ask me to withdraw from the House only,” he thundered. He rounded up his argument by again, rewording, all the allegations made by the Opposition. “The government is not involved in corruption. It is involved in suspicion…” Go figure! 2.50 pm: Sharad Yadav flays the government JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav too criticized the government for having misplaced files important for the coal scam probe. “The news of missing files was confirmed after Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal made it public. This was also confirmed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later. However, the PM did not give any number as to how many files are missing. The CBI has also been misguided. Parliament should be informed. Those files got lost because the government wants to save itself. It is a matter of concern that Parliament is stopped from functioning by the government itself,” he said. He questioned how the PM call say that he is not the custodian of the files. “You are the custodian of the country. If you raise your hands in helplessness, what will people like us do? You are like God to the people of the country as you are the last authority. How can you give up your responsibility like that?” he asked. 2.32 pm: Sushma Swaraj demands government file FIR on missing files After having set the stage for their attack, rather pompously, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj lodged on to a rather disciplined and dignified criticism of the Congress. “The case has been becoming twisted with every passing day. First the scam broke, then we came to know that law minister Ashwani Kumar had made the CBI make changes to the report so as to not implicate the Prime Minister. Consequently, Kumar resigned. Now nearly 200 files have gone missing?” she said. Deftly drawing the difference between ‘missing’ and ‘stolen’, she said that something that has been ‘missing’ for so long should now be called ‘stolen’ and an FIR should be lodged. She mentioned how even the Supreme Court had made a similar suggestion a while back. “However, the government has not filed a FIR yet. We want to know when the government will file a FIR. If it doesn’t, we have every reason to question its intent. Also, the CBI shouldn’t be brought under any pressure. In fact to come out clean in this case, the Prime Minister should volunteer for questioning himself,” she added. While building her argument, she referred to a report on today’s The Indian Express where a senior CBI officer has been quoted. The officer has told the paper that the Prime Minister should be interrogated but the CBI director has held the agency back from doing so till now. “A report on Daily Mail says that the AG has himself provided the government with a list of missing files. I object to the PM calling those files ‘so called missing files’” 12.40 pm: While senior BJP leaders don’t stir, sloganeering continues Though the Opposition has not attacked the Congress again from the front and senior BJP leaders have kept quiet, the party has made sure that a bunch of enthusiastic and expendable party MPs take to persistent slogan mongering. As the Pension Bill debate goes on, Opposition MPs shout slogans relentlessly. We could catch the last line of the refrain: “Coalgate ki dalali mein, Puri Congress kaali hai”. However, they have chosen to remain in the background filling in the void left by the suspended Andhra Pradesh MPs. Oh, now they have come up with another new line: “Pradhaan mantri bhrashth hai (the PM is corrupt).” As Basudeb Acharya scolds Meira Kumar asking her to bring the House to order the BJP MPs now switch to making a sound wave - much like what Eden Gardens would sound if Sachin Tendulkar was to get out for a duck. As Chidambaram lounges back on his chair and laughs, Meira Kumar fumes and the BJP MPs make ululating sounds, beat boxes, and generally make sounds that irritate the daylights out of any living being! You have to give them brownie points for innovation at least! 12.18 pm: Meanwhile , meet the NASA-hating new age Bengali communist! Did you know that in some corner of Delhi, the United States of America is well on its way of hatching a conspiracy of James Bond-flick proportions? Gurudas Dasgupta, CPI MP, will tell you how. Dasgupta said that somewhere in Delhi stands a pillar by which the USA can listen into conversations between political leaders. “They can listen to what Mr Chidambaram is telling the Prime Minister,” he warned. And guess who is orchestrating this wonderful spy machination? NASA! Like always he demanded a statement from the government on the issue. “America can’t be the guardian of the world. We demand the removal of all mechanism that is connecting with NASA surveillance. Join me in condemning the action of America,” he demanded hoarsely. Meanwhile, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill 2011 has been tabled. Sanjay Nirupam has already warned that the youth today will be old people in the next fifty years and hence needs the bill desperately. On that very reassuring note, Sougata Roy moved to oppose the Bill. 12.05 pm: SP, JD(U) brings up AIIMS reservation issue Like it was apprehended, the Opposition didn’t go after the government and Manmohan Singh over the missing coal scam files. Instead Samajwadi Party and JD(U) raked up the issue of reservations against. The Supreme Court had ruled a while back that there should be no reservations for super-specialty posts in institutes like the AIIMS. The House was united in criticizing the the SC order and the government had promised to move a constitutional amendment in case the Supreme Court didn’t retract on its verdict. Today, Kabil Sibal reiterated in the Lok Sabha that the government’s stand on reservations have not changed despite the SC’s rulings. 11:35 am: Finally, BJP brings up Syria in the House In a Parliament which had been looking too embroiled in its own games of political statement-making, BJP MP Jaswant Singh came as a breath of fresh air. He brought up an issue that has had violent ripple effects in the country’s economy but has failed to elicit a single mention in India’s Parliamentary proceedings. “The civil war in Syria is of a very uncivil nature. The fanatical sectarian conflicts are destroying a fine civilisation. On the other hand, the Parliament has failed to mention it even once.” He also took a dig at Salman Khursheed by calling calling him ‘an affable but not so able’ external affairs minister. Bringing up a statement issued by David Cameron where the British PM had commented that India has been consulted on the Syria affair, Singh questioned the Indian government’s stand on the issue. “The ministry in India later issues a clarification saying that it was an ‘innocent’ mistake on part of the British PM. Now, that is a new term in diplomacy for sure,” he added. He also urged the country to condemn the US’ intervention in the matter. “West is not the policemen, keepers of global peace. We shouldn’t let them take over the East,” he announced. 11.15 am: Left Front and Trinamool sing the same tunes Left Front MP Basudeb Acharya and TMC MP Saugata Roy, echoed each others concerns over the spiralling fuel prices. Acharya emphatically said that the government is trying to burden the already-harassed citizens with more expenses. “You are placing the burden on the common people. The price of LPG has gone up by Rs 50. I demand that the prices of petrol and diesel be rolled back immediately,” said Acharya. Roy on the other hand suggested that the government has been waiting for the Monsoon Session to end so that they can promptly increase the prices of fuel. “The price of public transport will go up. The prices of air fares will go up. Prices of vegetables have already gone up. The government hasn’t been able to take a drastic step yet to rescue the falling rupee and rein in inflation. 11.02 am: Manmohan Singh’s peace overtures fail Following yesterday’s tussle over the missing Coalgate files, the Prime Minister reportedly met Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj requesting them to let the Parliament function. Key bills like the insurance and the pension bills are still pending in the House which led the otherwise bristling PM to seek truce before he left for the G20 summit. However, from the sound of the Houses alone, as they reopened today, it can be said that the logjam will not end anytime soon. With the Prime Minister leaving for Russia, chances are that the impasse will continue well till the end of the Monsoon Session. The Rajya Sabha has been already adjourned for 15 minutes and the Lok Sabha is struggling to function. End of updates from 3 September 3.00 pm: Parliament adjourned for the day over Coalgate stir Even after the PM’s statement, the Opposition continued to stir against the UPA claiming that Manmohan Singh’s speech did not answer either their doubts or queries. They continued sloganeering and in Lok Sabha, stormed the well of the House. Speaker Meira Kumar immediately adjourned the House. 2:00 pm: PM speaks in Lok Sabha on Coalgate, faces opposition The Prime Minister is now in the Lok Sabha where he has made the same statement that he had made in the Rajya Sabha. There was a brief outcry and the Prime Minister looked slightly surprised when it happened but then he found his step and managed to get through the rest of his speech smoothly. However, he faced the same problem in the Lok Sabha and faced vocal opposition from the BJP once he was done with his statement. Speaker Meira Kumar tried to pacify the BJP MPs saying no clarifications were needed on the statement but Sushma Swaraj shouted her down and the Finance Minister to demand that she be allowed to speak. Finance Minister P Chidambaram valiantly tried to continue to read a bill as though he couldn’t hear the bedlam around him, but the BJP MPs were having none of it and continued to protest against the statement. Finally Kumar gave up and adjourned the Lok Sabha till 3 pm. 12.50 pm: PM makes statement in Rajya Sabha The Prime Minister continuing his new-found spirit against the Opposition’s attack ticked off the BJP yet again by asking the party to not  ‘draw conclusions’ about the government’s intent. “The government is making all efforts to facilitate the CBI probe. It has provided most of the papers requisitioned by the CBI. However, some people have gone ahead and drwan a conclusion that the government has done something fishy. The government has nothing to hide. We have already handed over 1,50,000 papers to the CBI for the probe. Clearly, we want to cooperate with the CBI in its probe,” said Manmohan Singh. He added that the matter is sub-judice and the government is following the directions of the Supreme Court in ’letter and spirit’. “Our intent to facilitate the probe cannot be questioned. If the government is unable to locate the papers and hand them over to the CBI within the time stipulated by the Supreme Court, a report will be filed with the CBI and an appropriate inquiry will be initiated,” he added. “Till then, I request the honourable members of the House to not draw hasty conclusions and let the House function,” he said. However, as expected, the Opposition was not really satisfied with his statement. The perennially angry Ravi Sankar Prasad busrt out in anger and demanded that the PM ‘answer’ the BJP’s questions. “He has not answered any of the questions raised by us,” he growled. Meanwhile, Rajeev Shukla, was left to fend for the Congress in face of the Opposition’s uproar. “What will he (PM) do? He made a statement. He confessed everything. Now, Sushma Swaraj is asking for a statement in Lok Sabha. He has gone there to make a statement…” he whined, dismissing the opposition’s accusations. 12.33 pm: Arun Jaitley lashes out at UPA The BJP lashed out at the government, yet again, regarding the missing Coalgate files. Leader of the Opposition reworded his old arguments to assert that the party was right in demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister. “The impression that was given categorically was that the files that have gone missing are from years prior to 2004 (when the NDA was in power) and some maybe from years between 2006 and 2009. You allocated coal blocks in an arbitrary manner, in an act of nepotism you gave coal blocks to favourites, your leaders became sweat equity holders in the companies which were given the coal bloks… these are clarifications that the PM needs to make. That’s why we demanded that the Prime Minister be present in the House when the issue is discussed,” he said. He suggested that for a matter that is sub-judice the destruction of evidence qualifies as a crime. “Have you filed a FIR? Have you started a probe? Have you booked the guilty? What steps have been taken to make the files reappear? The court will take penal responsibility of the missing files, but Mr Prime Minister, who will take moral responsibility for it?” asked Jaitley. 11.51 am: Kiran Bedi joins anti-government chorus With the Opposition raising a din over the missing Coalgate files, it was time for Twitter to lend itself to the debate. Consequently Kiran Bedi joined the anti-government chorus on micro blogging site sarcastically suggesting that if no one knew who moved the files, it must have been the monkers populating the North Block in Delhi. She said:  11.15 am:  PM to intervene on missing coal files after zero hour in Rajya Sabha News just in states that the Prime Minister will make a statement after zero hour in the Rajya Sabha. This comes in response to the BJP demanding that he make a statement on the issue before departing for the G20 summit. During his last speech Manmohan Singh had already told the Rajya Sabha that since he is not the custodian of the files, there’s no reason for him to explain why the files went missing. Especially since coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had made statements in both Houses of the parliament over the missing coal block allocation files. Sushma Swaraj reiterated what Arun jaitley had said in Rajya Sabha over a week ago: “Why was a FIR not filed when the files went missing. Is this a cover-up operation?” she question, saying that it is the Prime Minister’s duty to explain the missing files. 11.06 am: BJP stokes Coalgate issue in both Houses of the Parliament The BJP has raked up the missing Coalgate files issue in both Houses of the Parliament yet again. They have demanded that the PM make a statement before he leaves for the G 20 summit. End of updates from 2 September 11:23 pm: Rajya Sabha passes National Food Security Bill by voice vote Finally despite the confusion earlier, the UPA government got its act together in the Upper House of Parliament and passed the National Food Security Bill. The bill was passed by a voice vote and every amendment suggested by the BJP and other opposition parties was rejected. And this despite Venkaiah Naidu raising a brief protest over a particular clause. The bill will now be presented to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent. With that the Rajya Sabha adjourned to meet again at 11 am tomorrow. 10.35 pm: Faux pas by treasury benches delays voting process A faux pas by Treasury benches during the voting on the ordinance on food security held up proceedings of Rajya Sabha for some time. The problem began when Chairman Hamid Ansari called for a voice vote on statutory resolution moved by Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley disapproving of the ordinance on the Food Security issued on 5 July. [caption id=“attachment_1079909” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Members of the Rajya Sabha debate the food bill. PTI[/caption] Members from the Treasury benches who were supposed to say ‘nos’ inadvertently said ‘ayes’. However, they immediately realised their mistake and said a resounding no, when the Chair again put the question to them. However, Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said that since members from both Treasury as well as the Opposition benches have already said ‘ayes’ during the voice vote, the Opposition resolution that seeks to disapprove the ordinance got the majority. At this, Ansari said that the only solution to the situation is to seek a division. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla said members from Treasury benches did not say ayes but if the opposition insists, then the only solution is division of votes. Further delay was caused due to technical snags in the electronic voting system in the House when the division began. Voting was done once again because of the technical glitch. Finally after two attempts the resolution was negated by 118 votes against and 92 in favour. PTI 5:15 pm: AIADMK MP sparks chaos after praising Amma In what seems to be almost a regular occurence these days in Parliament, AIADMK’s V Maitreyan sparked a war of words when he chose to attack the DMK over its policies while it was in power in Tamil Nadu. He also said that the UPA had refused to take into consideration any of the suggestions made by the AIADMK due to which the party would not support the passage of the bill by the Rajya Sabha. 5:00 pm: B Mungekar says that those opposing the Food Bill are anti-poor, use imported toilet paper A nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, B Mungekar strongly defended the Food Security Bill saying that only those who had reaped the benefits of the 1991 reforms were opposing it. “Only those who use imported items, even toilet paper, are critics of this bill,” he said. No MP surprisingly took offence to this statement. The economist also said that the current Parliament would go down in history as taking one of the biggest decisions to benefit the poor of the country. 4:25 pm: HK Dua says opposition to Food Bill comes from ‘Shining India’ HK Dua, a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha said that the ‘Shining India’ was a selfish one that did not want to share even a handful of grains with the poor. He claimed that rich women were flying off to Bangkok and other places for kitty parties but were opposing the passage of the Food Bill. 3.50 pm: Trinamool calls the bill a ‘gimmick’ Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’ Brien first pointed out the difference between a ‘gimmick’ and an ‘idea’. “They are an ‘Under Pressure Alliance’ and the bill is pure gimmick,” he said. He concluded saying that if the UPA is willing to create a truly beneficial bill, the party will support their former allies. 3.45 pm: CPI(M) questions timing of Food Security Bill CPM’s Sitaram Yechury opened his argument by questioning the timing of the Food Security Bill. “Talks to formulate and pass the Food Security Bill have been on for a very long time. Why such a hurry to pass it now?” asked Yecury. He added that the three primary motives behind the bill - providing nutrition, providing adequate food, and helping people live with dignity - are not met by its provisions. Yechury added that there is no scarcity of money to promulgate the Bill. “There is no shortage of money in the country. Only, the money is either being looted or is being distributed among the rich as sops. First get that money back and then implement the Bill,” he said. He also brought up, what most other opposition parties have mention. “If a person has to live a dignified life, he needs 7 kilos of food grains every month and each family of five needs 35 kilos of food grains. There are states like Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Tripura have better schemes than the Food Security Bill. They should be allowed to continue with their own schemes. Some of them give food grains for free even…” he added. 3:15 pm: Mayawati says that the Food Bill seems to be directed at garnering votes Seeking two minutes every time she was asked to conclude her speech, Mayawati argued in the Rajya Sabha, much like the BJP, that the Food Security Bill only seemed to combine ideas from various other legislation and would not be effective. “The poor are already benefiting from other schemes that are already in place in states,” Mayawati said. She said that the government was using the scheme to make the poor believe that they were spending a lot on feeding them when it wasn’t the case. “It should be noted that this legislation has been brought now only because polls are approaching,” the BSP chief said. Claiming that like many other pro-poor schemes that have fallen by the side, Mayawati said that like the MNREGA, the Food Security Bill also had many loopholes that needed to have been plugged instead of rushing into it with an ordinance. 2.32 pm: Venkaiah Naidu flays food bill by calling it anti-farmer “You cannot distribute what you don;t have,” Venakaiah Naidu told the Congress in the Rajya Sabha today. Pointing at a decline in agriculture Naidu said that to support a scheme like the Food Security Bill, the country needs a surplus produce of 350 million tonnes of food grains. With farmers reeling under debts and the government sops failing to address the famers’ woes, several of them have stopped farming he said. “Kisaan ro raha hai, satta mein baithe log so raha hain (farmers are crying and the government is sleeping),” said Naidu. He mentioned that at least 8.6 million people have left agriculture as it is not enough for sustenance. “What will they do? They can’t earn a living from agriculture. You have increased the price of agriculture 24 times in the past, the price of seeds have gone up, the price of diesel has gone up… all the input costs have gone up. And you are not giving enough incentives to the farming community to engage in agriculture,” said Naidu. 1****2.50 pm: Too much burden on states, says BJP BJP’s leader Arun Jaitley points out that the state governments are swamped with too many new responsibilities thanks to the Food Security Act. “From providing ration cards, drawing up a list of eligible states, distribution of food grain, everything the state has to do,” he says, adding, “States are writing to the Centre pointing out that they have better food security schemes than the UPA’s. They should be allowed to continue running those as they are better suited to each state’s specific needs.” Jaitley pointed out that the Food Security Bill is actually a repackaging of all the existing schemes that states run individually. He also says that most states have better schemes already and the UPA’s food bill is effectively slashing the number of people who get subsidized food. “There are states which provide rice, pulses, sugar, iodised salt at subsidised prices to the poor. Not just Chhattisgarh, there are other states which have such schemes running. Show a big heart and include in your Bill that states which have better schemes than the UPA’s can carry on with their own schemes,” demands Jaitley. Given that several states have better food security schemes than the UPA’s, what was the urgency in bringing in the ordinance, questions BJP. 11.15 am: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm, Rajya Sabha struggles to function The Lok Sabha was adjourned immediately after it opened till 2 pm. Speaker Meira Kumar suspended 9 Andhra MPs till the end of this session. Hamid Ansari too was greeted by unruly MPs in the Rajya Sabha. With his temper running high, Ansari at first tried to bring order in the House and on failing to do so, he adjourned the House for 15 minutes. PC Chacko resumed the RS proceedings with a bunch of MPs still shouting ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’. They started wailing ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ even as Chacko tried to explain that by giving up the zero hour, it is the Opposition who stands to lose. But who will explain that to the Andhra MPs who seems to have come to house with the sole intention of displaying how well they have rehearsed synchronized sloganeering. 11.00 am: Will Congress-BJP patch up over RTI Amendment Bill? With political obligations pertaining to the Food Security Bill out of its way, the emboldened UPA has now steeled their defence to match the Opposition’s offensive. A glimpse of that was visible in the otherwise impassive Manmohan Singh’s scathing attack on the BJP’s ethics of politicking in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Flaying the BJP MPs for storming the well of the House and calling him ‘chor’ (thief), Manmohan Singh asserted that in the climate of  global economic slowdown, India too is in for many more shocks and Indians are better off trusting their government than paying heed to speculations. Though the PM kicked up quite a storm in the House, the Opposition too lost no time in hitting back. Arun Jaitley accused Manmohan Singh of ‘buying’ votes and other leaders in the Opposition said that his speech on the financial situation had no substance. Following the uproar, the Parliament opens again today. The Food Security Bill might be up for a debate in the Rajya Sabha today. Though the BJP had backed the Bill in the Lok Sabha, it had severely criticised it too. The Congress then had moved several amendments and were in a conciliatory mood to make sure that the Bill is passed after being delayed for so long. However, after having passed both the food bill and the land acquisition bill, the government’s approach has changed drastically. The Food Bill, if it indeed comes up in the Rajya Sabha today, is most likely to face heat from last day’s tiff between the PM and the Opposition. The Economic Times reports: The hardening of lines between the BJP and the Congress following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s attack on the Opposition while defending the government over its management of the economy appears to have diminished chances of a compromise on pension and insurance bills. The BJP has alleged that the government seeks the Opposition’s cooperation only when it is in a mess. On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee, who walked out of the UPA over fuel price hike and the cap imposed on subsidised LPG cylinders have already sounded out the bugle against the government. According to CNN IBN, Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has already requested the suspension of question hour over the hike in fuel prices. Oil minister Veerappa Moily had already kicked up a storm by proposing that petrol pumps be kept open for just 12 hours a day to curb petrol consumption. The political uncertainty over Syria has shot up petrol prices as supply stands threatened. However, the parties, currently at loggerheads might just have a reason to patch up in the amendment to the RTI Act that might be moved in the Lok Sabha today. DNA reports: A bill seeking to amend the RTI Act to shield political parties from providing information under the transparency law is likely to come up for discussion in Lok Sabha today.