New Delhi:
With proceedings in parliament remaining disrupted, the government was unable to introduce the street vendors bill - a pet legislation of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi - in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday when opposition MPs objected to introducing bills in the din.
The upper house, which witnessed repeated adjournments, met at 2 pm still amid din when Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Girija Vyas sought the permission of the house to introduce the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012, as already passed by the Lok Sabha.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, however, immediately objected.
"How can you take up this bill like this? How can you take up the bill in the din," asked Ravishankar Prasad, deputy leader of the opposition.
Members from the Congress, Telugu Desam Party, the DMK and the AIADMK were protesting near the chairman's podium over the formation of Telangana and the plight of Tamil fishermen.
Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien tried to persuade the member saying it was a "non-controversial bill".
However, opposition members did not agree, and in the pandemonium, the house was adjourned for the day.
The bill aims to protect the livelihood rights of street vendors as well as regulate street vending through demarcation of vending zones, conditions for and restrictions on street vending.
Any person intending to undertake street vending needs to register with the Town Vending Committee (TVC). He may then apply for a vending certificate that will be issued based on various criteria.