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New Delhi, September, 1 : The last day of
the monsoon session brought the government embarrassment in the
Rajya Sabha, forcing it to defer the education tribunal bill as
well as to confess to the Sheila Dikshit government diverting Dalit
development funds for the Commonwealth Games.
It fell to home minister P. Chidambaram to admit the diversion
of the Rs 678.91 crore to the scandal-ridden Games, an issue raised
earlier by the Bahujan Samaj Party.
“It will be seen that 17.33 per cent has been contributed
out of SCSP (Scheduled Caste Sub Plan) funds to the CWG projects....
According to the guidelines revised in 2006, it (the diversion)
appears to be wrong,” he said.
Chidambaram added that the matter was being addressed by a Planning
Commission-appointed task force, formed to work out ways to prevent
diversion of Dalit and tribal welfare funds.
Earlier, the Opposition cited alleged inadequacies in the education
bill that looks to set up tribunals for quick settlement of disputes
involving teachers, among others.
The Lok Sabha had passed the bill but the Rajya Sabha sought more
time. The BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad said the three-tier appeal
structure could make the process even more difficult for poor litigants.
Even Congress member K. Keshava Rao made the education minister’s
job harder by remarking with apparent irony that Kapil Sibal’s
bureaucratic machinery was struggling to keep up with his fast thinking.
As Sibal argued his case, he made a gaffe. He questioned the weight
in the Opposition’s arguments, setting off a furore that forced
him to agree to a deferment. The word Sibal used was expunged.
The Opposition left happy. The CPM’s Brinda Karat later said
the Opposition had registered victory by putting the government
in a tight corner on many issues and forcing it to postpone several
bills.
The Left had walked out, as it had done in the Lok Sabha, when
parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal moved the bill on MPs’
pay, protesting the Centre’s failure to keep its four-year-old
promise of forming an independent body to decide the salaries.
Even Bansal and leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley admitted
that MPs were facing criticism over the salary hike.
Ruckus rued
The session ended with the customary regret from both Houses’
presiding officers over the disruptions.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar warned of “unforeseen consequences”
if the trend continued, and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari reminded
MPs of the growing public criticism of their unruly behaviour.
Kumar disapproved of the “mock Parliament” held by some
members, saying: “Let informed debates take place inside the
chamber at all times instead of slogans and mock discussions.”
Ansari said: “The practice of frequent disruptions tramples
on the rights of individual members, detracts from the dignity of
Parliament, and has invited public criticism.”
While the Lok Sabha lost 45 hours to interruptions and forced adjournments,
the Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business on five days.
In the light of the repeated defiance of the Chair’s authority
in both Houses, the way the BJP had forced Bansal to apologise for
standing with his back to the Speaker’s chair left many Congress
MPs bemused.
More so because the BJP’s Navjot Sidhu, who has been seen
in the House just a couple of days, today got away without an apology
after shouting and gesticulating at junior parliamentary affairs
minister Narayanswami.
The session’s highlights include the passage of the nuclear
liability bill — and the BJP’s cooperation over it —the
bitter debate on the Bhopal tragedy, the MPs’ salary hike and
the differences among ministers over the aborted enemy property
bill.
Pranab Mukherjee’s management and political skills were evident
yet again while the Yadav troika — Sharad, Mulayam and Lalu
Prasad — dominated the Opposition space despite Sushma Swaraj’s
best efforts to stamp her authority.
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