Manipur issue: Lok Sabha adjourned for the day; 2 Bills passed
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Thursday (July 27) amid continuous protests by Opposition members over the violence in Manipur.
The House took up and passed two Bills after brief discussions as Opposition members kept raising slogans and displaying placards demanding the presence of the prime minister in the lower House.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill as well as a measure to repeal obsolete laws were passed before the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
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Jaishankar’s statement
The House witnessed a total of three adjournments in the day over the Manipur issue. After an earlier adjournment, when the House assembled at 2 pm, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a statement on the government’s foreign engagements amid disruptions.
A spat broke out between Union minister Piyush Goyal and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over the Opposition disrupting Jaishankar’s statement.
After Jaishankar’s statement, Chowdhury tried to raise a point of order. Goyal stood up and said that he would not allow the Congress leader to speak in protest against the disruption of the external affairs minister’s statement.
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As the war of words between the government and the opposition continued and several opposition members also kept on raising slogans over the Manipur violence, the House was adjourned for 20 minutes.
Just before the House was adjourned, a Congress member hurled torn papers at the Chair.
When the House reassembled at 3 pm, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi raised the incident and urged the Chair to name the member.
Also read: Opposition turns up in black as mark of protest over Manipur; Houses adjourned
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill was subsequently taken up for consideration.
In his opening remarks on the Bill, Goyal lashed out at the opposition members who were dressed in black as a mark of protest, saying they were trying to hide their black deeds behind their attire.
Minister @PiyushGoyal replies to the discussion on The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023.
The Bill aims to decriminalise minor offences under 42 laws governing agriculture, media, industry & other domains.
Watch Live: https://t.co/fLDcXAw4Yp pic.twitter.com/B2OM0DrdBu
— SansadTV (@sansad_tv) July 27, 2023
Without naming AAP Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha who was photographed with a crow hovering over his head in the Parliament complex on Wednesday, Goyal said that in black clothes they have even attracted a crow.
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In the morning, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm as opposition members, dressed om black, continued with their protests demanding a statement from the prime minister on the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur followed by a full-fledged discussion on it.
Jan Vishwas Bill seeks to promote ease of business
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 seeks to promote ease of business by decriminalising minor offences by amending 183 provisions in 42 acts.
Moving the Bill for passing, Goyal said it will promote the ease of doing business by decriminalising a number of provisions.
The Bill converts several fines to penalties, meaning that court prosecution is not necessary to administer punishments. It also removes imprisonment as a punishment for many offences.
All offences under the Post Office Act, 1898 are being removed. Goyal said around 40,000 provisions and procedures which had the possibility of creating problems for people were either simplified or removed by the Narendra Modi government over the last nine years.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 22 December 2022.
The Bill was sent to a Joint Committee of both Houses on 22 December 2022. The report was presented in Lok Sabha on 20 March 2023.
#LokSabha passes The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, as reported by Joint Committee. #MonsoonSession2023 @PiyushGoyalOffc pic.twitter.com/FcmbBbKaEc
— SansadTV (@sansad_tv) July 27, 2023
(With agency inputs)
