The controversial land Bill which was passed by lok Sabha will be taken up in Rajya Sabha during the post-recess phase of the Budget session, starting April 20. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the Government welcomes “a wider national debate” on this issue. A united Opposition, which enjoys an overwhelming majority in the Upper House, has announced it will not allow the passage of the legislation in the Rajya Sabha.
“Any good suggestions that will come out of such a debate will be considered by the Government. The land Ordinance was a result of collective demand of States for an enabling a law with less hurdles. The changes made to the Act of 2013 were aimed to benefit farmers, rural areas and the country at large,” the Minister said after the conclusion of the first phase of the Budget Session. “let me assure you and political parties that the Government does not stand on prestige in this regard. We have brought some amendments that are all in interest of farmers so as to take all parties on board,” Naidu said at a Press conference following the end of the first half of the Budget Session.
“I want to reiterate the exemptions to the land Act of 2013 made by us were clearly intended to serve the interest of rural areas, farmers and the country at large. I only hope that we will be able to take it forward and bring around broader political consensus in this regard,” he said. “We will decide on the next course of action with regards to land Bill in due course.”
Giving details of functioning of both the Houses, Naidu informed that lok Sabha has passed 14 Bills while Rajya Sabha cleared seven and both the Houses passed a total set of seven Bills. Productivity of lok Sabha has been 123.45% while Rajya Sabha has worked for 106.79% of the scheduled time. lok Sabha sat beyond the scheduled business hours on 11 days while the upper house did so on nine days, the Minister said.
Naidu further informed that disruption of proceedings have come down and thanked the leaders and members of all parties for it. He said while the lok Sabha lost 1 hour 46 minutes due to interruptions, the House functioned for an additional 27 hours 12 minutes. Rajya Sabha has lost 4 hours 21 minutes but made up an additional 11 hours 41 minutes.
Stating that there were quality debates in both the Houses, the Minister said 106 members of lok Sabha and 53 of Rajya Sabha participated in the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. In the lok Sabha, 238 members participated in the debate on Railway Budget while 176 did so on General Budget. The participation in Rajya sabha was 42 and 52 respectively.