Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die over coronavirus

(IANS) Accepting the apprehension of all political parties over the coronovirus threat, Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House sine die after day long business wherein the bills for the budget for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh for 2020-21 were passed.

New Delhi, March 23 Accepting the apprehension of all political parties over the coronovirus threat, Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House sine die after day long business wherein the bills for the budget for the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh for 2020-21 were passed.

In this budget session, a total 12 government Bills have been passed. Members of the House have raised a total of 249 issues of urgent public importance in the session.

But a total functional time of 38 hours 23 minutes of the House was lost on account of disruptions over Delhi riots.

Naidu before adjourning the House stated, "As the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, it is incumbent upon me to remind the members that you have a certain right to discuss and debate any issue in the House but not the right to disrupt the proceedings as claimed by some."

He further stated, "With the adjournment of the Rajya Sabha ahead of the schedule, I expect all the members to work with the people in respective states in our fight against the Coronavirus."

Before adjournment, Rajya Sabha approved the bill for the budget of Rs 1-lakh crore for Jammu and Kashmir. After approval, the bill was returned to Lok Sabha. The House also approved and returned to Lok Sabha another bill for the budget of Ladakh, as required under rules for money bills.

The bills were approved with voice vote after a debate of over two hours.

The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bills were passed by Lok Sabha on March 19.

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said that under the current government there has been a growth in GST, excise duty, stamp duty, banking transactions in Jammu and Kashmir and there is no evident loss in micro-terms.

He also pointed out that in 2011 he was prevented from unfurling the Indian flag at Kashmir's Lal Chowk, which is something anyone from any corner of the country can do now.

However, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad urged the government to release all detained political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. He hoped that statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

Rakesh Sinha, BJP, says there has been an economic revolution in the valley after scrapping of provisions of Article 370. He says 829 laws were implemented in J&K by the Centre post scrapping of Article 370 provisions.

K.K. Ragesh, CPI(M), appealed to the Union Finance Minister to provide financial assistance to districts hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking of the abrogation of special status of J&K, he says "silence at gunpoint" cannot be considered as freedom.

( With inputs from IANS )