Parliament Diary

The Defence Minister made a statement in Parliament regarding the Indian Air Force chopper crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor, which killed Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, and 12 others. The Minister informed the House that a tri-service enquiry into the crash, led by an Air Marshal, is underway.

In Lok Sabha, Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 were taken up for consideration and passing. The two Bills increase the tenures of the ED and CBI directors one year at a time, for up to five years. During the discussion, Members called the Bills arbitrary as they permit excessive discretion of the government. They further added that fixing the tenure at two years was meant to insulate the heads of these organisations from any form of governmental interference. 

In his opening remarks, the MoS of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions assured the House of the government's commitment to root out crimes like corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering and others. He said that investigating such crimes requires a certain continuity and individual continuity assures greater confidentiality and thus, the amendment is an enabling provision. NIPER (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was discussed and passed in Rajya Sabha. 

During Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, a Member urged the government to consider constituting an "All-India Judicial Services" on the lines of IAS and other allied services. Another Member asked for the MP quota recommendation system in Kendriya Vidyalayas to be increased and reevaluated on the basis of population and area. On Wednesday, a Member called for the discontinuation of the quota recommendation system, arguing that it goes against the system of meritocracy. 

The report of the Women Empowerment Committee on ‘Empowerment of Women through Education with special reference to ‘Beti Bachao – Beti Padhao Scheme’ was presented. 

Proceedings in Lok Sabha were ongoing at the time of uploading this note.