Parliament Diary

Both Houses of Parliament continued to see disruptions and multiple adjournments today. Until Monday, Lok Sabha had functioned for 10% of its scheduled time while Rajya Sabha had worked for 26%.

In Lok Sabha, Question Hour was briefly taken up and Members raised matters under Zero Hour. Discussion on the Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, 2021 concluded in Rajya Sabha and the Bill was passed. 

A Committee Report on the "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on MSME Sector & Mitigation Strategy adopted to counter it" was tabled. In the report, the Committee noted that the stimulus packages announced by the government for economic revival are inadequate as they included loan offering and long-term measures instead of improving the cash flow to generate demand as immediate relief. It recommended that:

• the government should design schemes and policies for the benefit of Micro & Small enterprises which constitute the majority of the Indian MSME sector, instead of Medium and Large enterprises, and

• a detailed study must be conducted to make an assessment of the actual losses suffered by the MSME Sector so as to chalk out an effective plan for the sector's revival.