Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday took a serious view of members leaving the House after making remarks without waiting for the reply of the minister concerned during debates and said he will tell the leaders of their parties to not field them during discussions in the House.
Birla made the remarks as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that she was responding to the point raised by a Congress member who was not present in the House. She was replying to the debate on the budget for 2022-23 and supplementary demands for grants for 2021-22 of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Speaker said the Minister need not respond to the point as the member was not present.
“Those MPs who do not stay in the House, I have taken a serious view of this and this is a matter of deep concern. Do not give a reply. And, I will also tell their parties that they are not fielded during debates,” the Speaker said. After a reply from Sitharaman, the House passed the demands for grants for Jammu and Kashmir for 2022-23, supplementary demands for grants for 2021-22, supplementary demands for grants (third and final batch for 2021-22), demands for excess grants for 2018-19 and the relevant appropriation bills.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was given an enthusiastic welcome by BJP MPs in Lok Sabha on Monday, the first day of the second part of the Budget Session that is being held just days after BJP’s win in the recently held assembly polls.
As soon as the Prime Minister entered the House, soon after it commenced proceedings, the BJP MPS gave him a rousing welcome, chanting “Modi, Modi” and thumping their desks, following the party’s victory in assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh were among those who welcomed the PM to the House.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha. The Finance Minister informed the Lok Sabha that several states have requested for extension of the GST compensation period (beyond June 2022) during deliberations in the GST Council and in letters addressed to the central government. The second half of the Budget session that commenced on Monday will conclude on 8 April. The first half of the Budget session began on 31 January and concluded on 11 February.