New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) Despite strong opposition by the Congress and the Left parties, the Rajya Sabha passed a bill on Friday to amend the mines and minerals act.
The bill was passed with two amendments approved by the select panel, and will now go back to the Lok Sabha for getting its approval again.
An amendment of CPI-M leader P. Rajeeve to recommit the bill to the select committee was put to vote, but defeated.
Several parties, including the Trinamool Congress, AIADMK, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) voted in favour of the bill, making it possible for the bill to pass through the upper house where the government is in a minority.
As the house took up a debate on the bill, Bhupendra Yadav of the BJP said the bill will bring greater transparency in mining.
"This bill will bring transparency in functioning of mines, delays will be less and the share of states in the minerals will increase," he said.
Pawan Varma of JD-U, opposing the bill said: "A very fundamental demand that states should be consulted was not accepted. The new bill divests states through their authority. It needs legal consultation."
Tapan Kumar Sen of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said: "There is no hurry as it is being shown. We have never opposed auctioning, but it is being shown we are against auction. It is taking away state's rights."
The Trinamool Congress supported the bill with party leader Derek O'Brien saying "We have given some suggestions which have been incorporated and the glass of water is half full. Let us not be negative".
A.Navaneethakrishnan of AIADMK and Rajaram of BSP also supported the bill.
Rajaram said: "This bill should have been brought long back."
He, however, wondered if the bill would be able to check the mine mafia.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said the bill can be ultra vires of the constitution as it takes away the rights of the states.
"There was restriction of time on the select committee but there was no restriction on interaction with states," Aiyar said, adding that even as mining secretaries from the states were in Delhi, they were not allowed to be examined by the committee.
"There was no consultation with states. If the committee could have consulted with states this report would never be in this form. We are likely to pass a bill which may be ultra vires to constitution," he said.
"We express our opposition to the manner in which this government is legislating through ordinances, hurting the state rights...," Congress leader Anand Sharma said as Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien put the bill to vote.
According to the guidelines of Odd-Even, shops are opening for 20 days, but the owners are coming to collect the rent instead of the customers.
8th story from New Delhi. (Bhanwar Jangid). Within two months of the lockdown, Delhi's heartbeats have been hit by ventilators. This is because, in the market of Gandhinagar, which supplies ready-made
Devotees reaching Katra for darshan of Mata Vaishno Devi amidst growing cases of the corona, all being tested
Jammu: Devotees from all over the country are reaching Katra to visit Mata Vaishno Devi during the ever-increasing corona cases in India. In such a situation, because of the safety of the pilgrims,
West Bengal Assembly Election: Jaya Bachchan arrives in Bengal to promote TMC, Nadda said - 'UP has not seen, will see here'
Kolkata
PM Modi Visit: Yoga in UN, dinner with Biden and talks with CEOs, know the schedule of PM Modi's US-Egypt tour
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to visit America on the 21st of June. His visit is considered very important for both the countries. As the President of America himself has said that everyone
US channel claims: China created corona virus in Wuhan's lab with 'special purpose'
Ever since the global pandemic corona virus spread across the world, questions have been raised about China for spreading it. One such American news channel has claimed that the Noble Corona virus was
EOU will take Manish Kashyap on remand for 7 days, police of two states ready with a list of questions
Bihar Police will take Manish Kashyap on remand, arrested for circulating a fake video of the attack on Bihari workers in Tamil Nadu. The Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) probing the case has filed a
66 children lost their lives in enhancing the taste of cough-syrup: Deaths in the Gambia; Alert on 4 cough syrups made in India, WHO said - their 2 compounds are deadly
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on Wednesday regarding 4 cough syrups made by India's pharmaceutical company. WHO said that these products do not meet the standards. They are not
LPG Price Hike: The general public may get a big setback! Next week, gas cylinders may become expensive again, know how much the price will increase
Gas Cylinder Price Hike: The general public may soon get a shock of inflation. According to information received from sources, the price of the LPG cylinder (LPG Price Hike) may increase next week.
Indian Railways / IRCTC: Check before booking the passenger ticket, Railways has canceled many trains by May 31; See list
Indian Railways / IRCTC, the second wave of Corona epidemic continues in the country. Railways have canceled many trains during the Corona crisis. Indian Railways has been canceling a large number of
Delhi Air Pollution: Air pollution is not decreasing in Delhi, three of India are among the top 15 polluted cities of the world; Know what everyone's AQI level
AQI Delhi: The amount of pollution in Delhi-NCR is not showing any signs of reduction despite several efforts. At the same time, the air of many other cities of the country is also becoming poisonous.
