The Winter Session of Parliament began today.
Rajya Sabha adjourned after obituary references and resumed its proceedings in the afternoon. Marking the 250th Session, the House Chairman Mr. Venkaiah Naidu spoke about the role of the Upper House. In his address, he put forward some reform measures for Members to consider. This included adequacy of the sitting days, norms for enabling equitable and wider participation of members in the debates and ensuring adequate presence of Members throughout the proceedings and in the department-related standing committee meetings.
The discussions ran well into the evening. Some of the points raised included the need to use party whips sparingly, and the need for a minimum number of sitting days.
In the Lok Sabha, the Chit Funds Amendment Bill was taken up for discussion. The Chit Funds Bill amends the 1982 Chit Funds Act to substitute the names of certain terms in the Act, and to allow subscribers to join via teleconferencing when chits are drawn. It also seeks to increase the commission of the person responsible for the chit fund from 5% to 7%. Read the PRS Bill Summary of the Chit Funds Amendment .
Discussions followed and this ranged from GST exemption, increasing foreman’s commission to 6% instead of 7%, to the bill taking retrospective effect.
The House adjourned for the day without passing.