Rajya Sabha
NEW DELHI: With Rajya Sabha taking up discussions on the working of certain ministries after the Budget presentation, opposition parties have demanded that the home ministry be among the four to be discussed.
The proposal for discussing the Home Ministry was made by the Trinamool Congress at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) on Tuesday.
Sources said the demand was backed by all opposition parties as well as the BJD, which is not part of the INDIA bloc.
However, so far discussion on two ministries have been approved, the Urban Development Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry.
On Thursday, the TMC's parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien also wrote to Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, urging him that the Home Ministry should be included in the ministries to be discussed by the House.
The Rajya Sabha, which is the council of states, has a limited role in the passing of money bills, including the finance bill. While the Lower House discusses demands for grants for select ministries, the Rajya Sabha holds discussion on the working of some of the ministries.
According to sources, during a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha Tuesday to decide the ministries to be discussed, the TMC proposed home ministry.
On Wednesday, a bulletin of Rajya Sabha said the BAC decided to discuss the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which was initiated by the BJP, and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, which will be initiated by the Congress.
The BAC also recommended that two more ministries will be taken up for
discussion during the session and their names will be finalised by the Chairman in due course after consultations, the Rajya Sabha bulletin said.
It was also recommended that the TMC and DMK may initiate the discussion on the remaining ministries.
A source said INDIA bloc parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), CPI, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) , Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) backed the demand that the Home Ministry should be discussed in the House. The demand was backed also by the Biju Janata Dal, which is not a part of the INDIA bloc.
In his letter to Dhankhar, O'Brien said the home ministry should be discussed by the Council of States, as it is an important area where the federal structure needs to be clearly demarcated and respected.
He also pointed out that the demand has been backed by several other parties, and the ministry is not being discussed by the Lok Sabha either.