The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has raised three demands, including a share from the Cess from fuel and cooking gas to the States, at an all-party meeting held here ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament from Monday. Prime Minister Modi chaired the meeting on Sunday. BJD Parliamentary Party Leader Pinaki Misra, who attended the meeting, said the party placed primarily three demands. Firstly, it wanted the Centre to procure the surplus rice from Odisha and release of the pending food subsidy amounting to crores to the State at the earliest. The BJD demanded the Centre to provide a share of the additional cess from fuel and cooking gas to the States to help them fight against Covid-19 effectively.
Misra during the meeting also urged the Centre to restore the MPLAD fund. “When MLAs in States are getting MLALAD fund of Rs 5 crore, MPs have become powerless because of non-allocation of the MPLAD fund.
We demanded early restoration of the MPLAD fund,” he said. The party also raised three issues, including tabling of the women’s reservation Bill during the monsoon session. “It was quite concerning to find only two women MPs among 40 men MPs at the all-party meeting. We demanded for presenting of the women’s reservation Bill in the Parliament for discussion,” Misra said.
Besides, the party expressed concern as the ST list Bill for inclusion of more groups as the scheduled tribes and the Legislative Council Bill for Odisha are not included in the 29 Bills that will be presented in the Monsoon Session for debate.