LOK SABHA onThursday passed a bill to replace the 20-year-old scheme MGNREGA amid tearing of papers by Opposition members who accused the Government of destroying the rural economy and ignoring the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. In a spirited reply to the eighthour discussion on the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission-Gramin (G RAM G) Bill, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan claimed large-scale corruption in the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

 

As Opposition members tore papers and raised slogans, Chouhan argued that MGNREGA has outlived its utility and the focus of the Government was now on creating permanent assets and developing model villages, instead of just paying wages. Opposition members accused the Government of trying to erase the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi by scrapping his name from the rural jobs scheme. The minister said the G RAM G Bill was brought after extensive deliberations as it was felt that amount to the tune of Rs 10-11 lakh crore should be spent on initiatives such as water conservation, developing core rural and livelihood related infrastructure and taking up special works to mitigate extreme weather events.

 

Later, addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Chouhan slammed the Opposition for resorting to “hooliganism” in the Lok Sabha by tearing papers and standing on the desks in the House. “Through their behaviour, the opposition disgraced democracy, tore parliamentary traditions to shreds and turned democracy into ‘bheedtantra’ (mobocracy) and ‘goondatantra’ (hooliganism),” he told reporters. In the Lok Sabha, Congress member K C Venugopal had urged the chair to refer the G RAM G Bill to a parliamentary panel for close examination. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla turned down the request saying members, cutting across party lines, had debated the bill in detail for eight hours during the sitting of the House that stretched beyond midnight on Wednesday night. Several Opposition members took out a protest march inside the Parliament House complex against the G RAM G bill.

 

SECURITIES MARKET CODE BILL INTRODUCED IN LS; GOVT PROPOSES SENDING IT TO PARLIAMENTARY PANEL: FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday introduced the Securities Market Code Bill in the Lok Sabha and proposed referring it to the departmentrelated standing committee for further discussion. Arun Nehru (DMK) and Manish Tewari (Congress) opposed the Bill at the introduction stage, saying it gave excessive powers to a single body, which was against the principle of the separation of powers.

 

They described the bill as a case of excessive delegation of power. Responding to their claims, the Finance Minister said that since the Government is referring it to the standing committee, such details can be discussed by the panel.