Opposition parties today staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha in protest against the recent hike in fuel and cooking gas prices.
Members of Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, NCP and Left parties raised slogans against the move and walked out of the lower house demanding a rollback.
They had tried to raise the issue as soon as Lok Sabha met for Question Hour, but were disallowed by Speaker Om Birla who asked them to raise it after the Question Hour.
The second half of the Budget session of Parliament resumed from March 14 and will conclude on April 8. The first half of the Budget session began on January 31 and concluded on February 11.
The two Houses of Parliament are following the social distancing norms in the seating arrangements of the members by utilizing both the chambers and visitors' galleries.
Here are the highlights on the Budget Session:
Over 2,150 cases of deaths in judicial custody and 155 deaths in police custody were reported by the National Human Rights Commission in 2021-22, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of 448 deaths in judicial custody in 2021-22 till February, while Maharashtra reported the highest number of 29 deaths in police custody during the year.
As many as 257 police stations in the country do not have any vehicle and 638 police stations do not have a telephone connection, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the central government supplements the efforts of state governments towards equipping and modernising their police forces, by providing financial assistance under the scheme of Assistance to States for Modernisation of Police (ASMP).
Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra demanded that the civil aviation ministry be scrapped and merged to create a holistic ministry for transport as it was no longer in the business of running a national airline. Participating in the discussion in Lok Sabha on the demand for grants of the civil aviation ministry, she said that with the privatisation of Air India last month there was no point in discussing that as it was already a "fait accompli" and "we need to move on".
BJP member Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Tuesday made a strong case for developing 30-40 greenfield airports in the country to cater to the requirement of ever increasing number of air passengers. Participating in the discussion on demands for grants for the Civil Aviation Ministry in the Lok Sabha, he said that upgrading existing airports and using defence enclaves for civil aviation "is not the future."
Opposition parties protested in Lok Sabha today against the increase in prices of fuel and cooking gas and staged a walkout demanding a rollback.