Government’s claim – productive while Congress said – pollution period, know who said what on winter session

The winter session of Parliament is over. In this session, there was a debate on Vande Mataram and a fierce battle over the VB-Ji Ram Ji Bill. This bill has been passed by the Parliament. After the session was over, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh held a press conference. He fiercely cornered the government on many issues. The winter session was termed as the pollution session. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju described the session as productive. Let us know what both the leaders said.

1. Jairam Ramesh said, the winter session of Parliament has just ended. This was the shortest session of only 15 days. Every year the winter session lasts for 21 to 28 days. This time he was called only for 15 days. It started on 1st December and ended today on 19th. On November 30, an all-party meeting was held under the chairmanship of Rajnath Singh, which is just a formality. In that we mention the issues we want to raise from the opposition side.
2. He told that it was said by the government that 14 bills will be introduced out of which 2 are formalities. In total we were given information about 12 bills but 5 of them did not appear. Why did you give information when the bills were not going to come? I told Rajnath Singh that our experience has been that before the end of every session, they take out BrahMos missile, what will we take out this time? Then he laughed.
3. It happened as I had indicated and a bill which was passed amidst the uproar, was introduced in the last two days. There was a demand for 2 bills to be sent to the committee, it is our achievement that they will now be sent. The session started with the speaker who spoke on behalf of the government, starting with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The entire debate on Vande Mataram was to defame and insult Jawaharlal Nehru. Rabindranath Tagore was insulted.
4. Jairam Ramesh said, this was not a winter session but a pollution session. Yesterday the government replied that there is no connection between pollution and lung damage. This government is denying all the facts, what kind of world do they live in? It has been reported in many reports that pollution has an impact on lung disease as well as mortality.
5. He said, Rahul Gandhi had demanded discussion so that we can give some suggestions. Yesterday afternoon suddenly adjournment was announced in the Lok Sabha. While we were ready for debate in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, we gave this information to the government. There was also a discussion on the name of Priyanka Gandhi. We felt that there would be a discussion on this because the situation of pollution is from bad to worse. Tomorrow suddenly it is announced that the winter session is postponed indefinitely.
6. He said, the government is pretending that we wanted a debate but Congress did not want it. This is completely false. We wanted discussion. We talked about suggestions. The government is running away from discussing pollution. For the third time in a year, the government has said in the Parliament in writing that air pollution has no effect on disease and mortality, whereas this is absolutely false. We were about to present evidence against their claim, so the government ran away.
7. The new Act was passed amidst uproar in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, it repeals Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. The meeting of Congress CMs was held in Guwahati in 2002 when 15 CMs were present, presided over by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh was present. It was written in that meeting that the Central Government should bring the Rural Employment Guarantee Act, after that in the 2004 election manifesto we had promised that we will make a law for 100 days.
8. Then the Common Minimum Program was made. Then this topic was discussed for 13 months from July 2004 to August 2005. Then a draft was prepared, then discussion took place and the bill was drafted and introduced. Then that Act was sent to the Standing Committee. It was headed by BJP MP Kalyan Singh, there was debate for 7-8 months and then this law was made.
9. Then it was made unanimously, after the permission of all the parties. The Standing Committee was formed only after discussion and analysis. Now just compare that VB G Ram G Bill was brought. We get information 2 days in advance. Its first and direct impact will be on the weak and poor of our society. This will have a direct impact on SC, ST, backward classes, agricultural laborers and women. That is why MNREGA was called Employment of Last Resort. The second impact will be directly on the states, earlier the contribution of the states was only 10%, now it will be implemented in the ratio of 60:40, the financial burden on the states will increase. The financial condition of the states will become even weaker.
10. This is a big conspiracy. First RTI was abolished, MGNREGA was abolished yesterday and now the third target will be the Forest Rights Act and the fourth target will be the Land Acquisition Act. A day will come when many questions will be raised on the Food Security Act. He has run a bulldozer in the Parliament, first in the Lok Sabha and then in the Rajya Sabha. I have asked many ministers and BJP MPs why they used the bulldozer, everyone’s answer was just to look upwards and point a finger, they said nothing.
11. Everyone had no answer regarding haste. Leave aside all the MPs and institutions, which of our Chief Ministers did I talk to when I was Rural Development Minister? UP, Bihar or Chandrababu Naidu, whose Chief Minister did he talk to? Only one person decided that the bill would come and it would be passed. This was the story of this pollution session.
12. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, winter has been very productive. The bills passed in this session are going to be useful in making a developed India. Many people had raised questions on the Election Commission but after the discussion in the House, milk has turned into water. For the first time there was a discussion regarding election reform. Looting had become a medium in MNREGA. Now there is a complete provision in Ji Ram Ji to stop corruption, this is a revolutionary bill. Two bills have been sent to the committee.
13. He said, I also thank the opposition for taking part in the discussion. The discussion could not take place due to the uproar on pollution. Reform Express has started and is not going to stop now. The Congress people themselves refused to discuss pollution. Congress provoked other parties also. We had prepared for the discussion. The way of protesting was not right for the opposition. Dancing on the table is not a protest.
14. Rijiju said, Congress cheated. Congress took more time by talking first and then when the time came for the minister to speak, it created a ruckus. The opposition had demanded that three bills be sent to the committee, we have sent two. The investigation into the case of smoking e-cigarette inside the House has been handed over to the forensic lab.