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Govt to opposition: Let's ensure parliament's smooth functioning
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Sushil Kumar | 10 Feb, 2016
Emphasising that the Narendra Modi government wants a "smooth budget
session" of parliament, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary
Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said the government is "ready to discuss
any issue" with the opposition to ensure "meaningful business in the
house".
Parliament's budget session will begin on February 23
with President Pranab Mukherjee addressing a joint sitting of the Lok
Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Naqvi told reporter in an interview that a
number of important bills are to be "discussed and passed in the
overall interest of the country" during the budget session.
"Over
30 bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha alone," he said, adding that
the Lok Sabha also has lots of bills pending and it was "high time"
these are discussed and passed.
"We are requesting the Congress
and others with folded hands not to stop development and reforms in the
country," he said, adding the government was "ready to discuss anything
with the opposition".
The minister said parliament's smooth
functioning is the responsibility of "all concerned", and in case the
opposition has any problem with any of the proposed bills, the
government will listen to it both inside and outside the house.
On
the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, the minister said that it should
be a reality soon as concerns of the opposition have been addressed and
there should be no problems in getting it passed.
Parliamentary
Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu "has been in constant touch with the
Congress party and others and it seems they all understand the
importance of smooth functioning of Parliament," Naqvi said.
Asked
about the government meeting leaders of all poll-bound states before
announcing the dates of the budget session, Naqvi said this was to
ensure that there were no problems for poll-bound states in terms of the
session's dates.
"It was for the first time in the history of
(Indian) parliamentary democracy that before finalizing dates of a
(parliament) session, the proposed schedule was discussed with all
concerned," he told reporter.
The budget session will be held in its
traditional two parts, February 23 to March 16 and From April 25 to May,
with a 39-day recess in between.
The minister, who also deals
with minority affairs, said that there was no need for any of the
minority communities to be afraid of anything.
"Minorities need
not feel unsafe under any regime, be it of Congress, BJP or any other
political party, as the constitution of the country provides equal
rights and safety to everyone," he said.
On being reminded that
news reports about Dalits and people from other weak sections of society
being harassed keep appearing in national media quite often, Naqvi said
it was "unfortunate".
"We believe that not even an isolated
incident of such nature should happen. The government is committed to
protect all rights of every individual of the society no matter where he
or she lives or work," he said.
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