Nothing much changed on Day 3 of the Parliament’s Monsoon Session, on Wednesday, 20 July, except more unfounded claims made by the Union Government in response to questions raised by Members of Parliament.
Both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned following ruckus again, while Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai went so far as to say that “no Kashmiri Pandit had reportedly left the Valley since 2019.”
In between the sloganeering and ensuing war of words, here are the top 10 developments that transpired in the Parliament today:
Amid continued sloganeering by opposition MPs over inflation and Goods and Services Tax rate hike, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day. The Lok Sabha, following suit, was adjourned minutes after it was reconvened at 4 pm.
Opposition members, some displaying placards and shouting slogans, trooped into the well of the lower house. Some were seen carrying milk, buttermilk, butter, and curd packets to protest against the GST hike.
Meanwhile, the protests spilled out of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, along with other Congress MPs, joined the protest on price rise and inflation in front of the MK Gandhi statue in Parliament premises.
Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “disrespecting Parliament proceedings and bringing down the productivity of the Parliament.”
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai claimed that "no Kashmiri Pandit has reportedly migrated from the valley" between 5 August 2019 to 20 July 2022. However, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley this year alone due to the spate of targeted killings in May and June.
Besides that, he said 24,134 people were arrested and faced trial under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) between 2016 and 2020, while only 212 of them were convicted.
The Rajya Sabha was told that no cases of children were forced to leave their homes for illegal child labour. However, Aide et Action’s study revealed a twofold rise in the number of children in India accompanying their parents to brick kilns after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha that around 9.79 lakh vacancies were available in Union government departments as of 1 March 2022. India, meanwhile, is reeling under one of the worst unemployment crisis with the youth regularly protesting the lack of government jobs.
Green clearances were given to 83 mining projects of state-owned Coal India Ltd in the last two years, Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said in a reply to the Lok Sabha.
Olympics athlete PT Usha was sworn in as an MP in the Rajya Sabha. Usha and four others, including screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad and renowned composer Ilaiyaraaja, had been nominated to the upper house by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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