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Parliament adjourned for 11th day, MPs pay tribute to 26/11 victims
Friday November 26, 2010 06:38:34 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Sticking to
the pattern of the last 10 days, both houses of parliament were
adjourned Friday amid noisy scenes over the demand for a JPC probe
into the 2G spectrum scam, though there was short-lived peace when
MPs paid tributes to the victims and heroes of the 2008 Mumbai
terror attack.
For a change, there were no protests
in both houses when MPs reassembled Friday morning after 10 days
of continuous disruptions and adjournments.
The proceedings in the Lok Sabha began with the swearing-in of
Putul Kumari, the newly-elected MP from Banka in Bihar. She
succeeds her husband and former union minister Digvijay Singh, who
died recently.
Speaker Miera Kumar then read out a message paying tribute to the
166 people - civilians and security personnel - killed in the
26/11 Mumbai terror attack two years ago.
"Today is the second anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks...
We reiterate our resolve to fight terror," she said in her
message.
MPs also observed silence in memory of the victims.
In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari read out the homage as
members of the upper house silently remembered the victims of the
dastardly attack.
But the peace in both houses couldn't last for too long. Soon
after, the ruckus began - a repetition of the scenes of the past
10 days - with the opposition and ruling benches levelling
allegations and counter-allegations of corruption.
The opposition stuck to their demand for a Joint Parliamentary
Committee (JPC) on the 2G Spectrum allocation scam even as the
government maintained a clear "No" to it.
As the opposition protests erupted in the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar
adjourned the house first till 12 noon and when the members
reassembled, Deputy Speaker Karia Munda adjourned it for the day
as the uproar continued.
In the Rajya Sabha too, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house
till noon following similar protests. The chaos continued when it
reassembled, and Deputy Chairman Rehman Khan adjourned the house
till 2.30 p.m.
The Rajya Sabha even witnessed a scuffle between the DMK and
AIADMK, after a member from the former party displayed a placard
against AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa.
The upper hours was later adjourned for the day.
Both houses will meet again Monday now in the wake of a two-day
weekend off.
Hardly any legislative business has been conducted in parliament
since the winter session began Nov 9.
Opposition members are demanding a JPC to probe alleged
irregularities in the 2008 allocation of second-generation mobile
telephony spectrum that is said to have caused huge losses to the
national exchequer.
The 11 successive days of adjournment translate into a loss of a
staggering Rs.84 crore with the expenditure for each day of a
session calculated at Rs.7.8 crore. Congress MPs have decided not
to take their daily parliamentary allowances of of Rs. 2,000 for
the winter session.
They say the principle of "no work, no pay" should be followed.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal told reporters that
several MPs from his party have conveyed to him that they did not
want to take their daily allowance.
"Though this is an individual decision, Congress MPs have decided
that they will not take their daily allowance from Nov 10 till the
end of this session. The loss to the exchequer due to disruptions
in parliament is very painful. We should follow the principle of
no work, no pay," Bansal said.
Each MP gets Rs.2,000 per day when parliament is in session. The
party has 207 MPs in the lower house and 71 in the Rajya Sabha.
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