Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning tomorrow, the Government has convened an all party meeting on Sunday to seek support of political parties to ensure smooth functioning of both the Houses of Parliament.Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has also called a meeting of floor leaders today. The Monsoon Session of Parliament will start tomorrow and conclude on the 13th of next month. The session will have 19 sittings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday held a meeting of floor leaders of different political parties. Sources said, the Rajya Sabha Chairman urged Parliamentarians to stand by the people in the light of the situation caused by COVID and discuss all related issues. Naidu stressed that a dysfunctional Parliament adds to the prevailing gloom and hence, all sections of the House should ensure a smooth and productive session to address the concerns of the people affected by COVID. He further said that the second wave sprang several surprises and severely tested the health infrastructure in the country.
Regarding the agenda for the monsoon session, sources said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi informed that the Government has identified 29 Bills including 6 Ordinance replacing Bills and two items of financial business for the session. He sought the cooperation of all parties for enabling a smooth session. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikharjuna Kharge proposed issues of broader concerns for discussion in the House. These include COVID situation, ongoing farmers’ agitation, issues relating to cooperative federalism, China’s actions along the border. In all, leaders of 20 parties spoke in the meeting and made various suggestions. In his opening remarks, Naidu complimented Piyush Goyal on being nominated as the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. He assured the regional and small parties that a certain improvement has been ushered in time allocation for them and further improvement will be considered. Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were among those who attended the meeting.
