Monsoon session day 5: Lack of quorum forces adjournment of RS, debate continues in LS

The fifth day of Monsoon session of Parliament has packed agenda following the near-washout sittings in last few days, owing to the Opposition's protests.

New Delhi, July 21: The fifth day of Monsoon session of Parliament has packed agenda following the near-washout sittings in last few days, owing to the Opposition's protests. Both the Houses saw stormy sessions on Thursday. While Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day by noon, Rajya Sabha saw Congress and TMC staging walk out over cow vigilantism row.

On Friday, the government has listed 62 entries on its agenda for the day, including around 45 bills for introduction and 10 bills for further consideration and passing in Lok Sabha.

In Lok Sabha

Debate on private members' Sixth Schedule to the Constitution(Amendment) Bill, 2015 is on.

Lok Sabha passes Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(Amendment) Bill to extend the deadline to December 2019 for untrained teachers to get qualified.

Lok Sabha reconvenes for the post-lunch sitting, takes up discussion on Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education(Amendment) Bill. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar introduces salient features of the amendment.

Lok Sabha adjourned till 2.00 pm

Darjeeling unrest raised in Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, BJP blames West Bengal government for Darjeeling situation.

Thokchom Meinya, Manipur MP, raises the issue of flash floods in the Northeast. It is high time to have a dedicated flash flood management policy for the North East and Manipur in particular, he says.

Lok Sabha is taking questions on population growth. MoS Health, Anupriya Patel is answering questions.

Question Hour begins. Lots of commotion in the House. Union Minister Ananth Kumar requests Congress MPs to allow the House to function. Where were you when the proceedings were running till late night yesterday, he asks.

In Rajya Sabha

As there were only 23 members, less than the number of members required for running the House, Deputy Chairman adjourns the House till July 24, 2017. Despite the ringing the bell for three-and-a-half minutes the quorum is 10 per cent of the total strength of the House - it's 25 in the case of the Rajya Sabha - could not be ensured.

Ramesh raises lack of quorum. Chair wants to check the quorum. Chair wants to ring quorum bell.

Rijiju makes it clear that Hindi is official language. All other languages are national languages. So there's no question of imposing any language over any other language.

B.K. Hariprasad's bill on regional languages is being debated. MoS Kiren Rijiju is replying. Rijiju says there is no move to impose Hindi. And says Hindi is an official language.

Members are being called to introduce their bills. K.K. Ragesh, V. Vijayasai Reddy, Rajkumar Dhoot and T. Subbarami Reddy introduce their bills.

Rajya Sabha reconvenes. Government withdraws the Noth East (amendment) bill, House agrees.

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2.30 pm

Rajya Sabha resumes, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh briefs the Upper House on performance of agriculture schemes.

Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 noon

If an MP's House has been vandalised or attacked for what he said in the House, the government should take action,Kurien tells Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. Now Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha also shout slogans.

Naresh Agarwal says BJP members are issuing threats to him even after he withdrew his comments. "If an MP receives death threats for what is said in the House, it is a serious issue," he says.

Opposition accuses govt of using finance bill route to pass key bills. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the government is passing key policy related bills to pass off as finance bills to avoid scrutiny in the Upper House.

Zero Hour proceedings begin in Rajya Sabha. The Representatives of People Act has been amended through Finance Bill, says Anand Sharma. What will be the role of this House if everything is passed as Finance Bill? Sharad Yadav, Ghulam Nabi Azad also join the issue.

Today's agenda

The Opposition is likely to raise key issues like enforcement of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, action being taken against shell companies, implementation of GST and government's efforts to bring back money stashed abroad in the Question Hour. Important bills to be introduced include, The State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

In Upper House, The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 will be taken up for passing and consideration. The Upper House, on Thursday, saw a heated debate on the on cow vigilantism and atrocities on Dalits, with the opposition trying to corner the government and a minister raking up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the 2002 Godhra incident.

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