LS adjourns, to meet again on Dec 27

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Friday after vociferous protests by the opposition over various issues, including the Rafale deal, bonded labourers rescued in Karnataka, Delhi sealing and Cauvery water dispute. The House will now meet on December 27, after Christmas.

As soon as the House met at noon after the first adjournment, official papers were laid on the table. The Zero Hour began.

Immediately, the Congress, AIADMK and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering.

The Congress demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 36 ready-to-fly Rafale fighter jets deal, while the AIADMK members demand that the proposal to construct a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekadatu must be withdrawn. The TDP raised several issues related to their demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh.

Amid the din, Bharatiya Janata Party's Prahlad Joshi raised the issue of labourers, who were rescued by the police in the Hassan district in Karnataka and demanded that a team of National Commission for SC/ST, Women and Human Rights should visit the spot and submit a detailed report.

The police in Savankamahalli village rescued 52 labourers, including Dalit bonded ones, who were enslaved and whipped. Reports said "kept in a small shed, these bonded labourers, including women and children, had lived for months and years in depraved conditions. There was no freedom, no wages and had to work for 17-hour a day. It was only after one of them managed to escape that the others were rescued".

"This horrifying incident has happened in the area from where the Karnataka Chief Minister (H.D. Kumaraswamy) hails. Karnataka government has not taken any proper action till now," Joshi said.

Trinamool Congess' Dinesh Trivedi also raked up the issue of the impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation on the MSME sector while Revolutionary Socialist Party's N.K. Premchandran raised the issue of Union Home Ministry's order that has allowed 10 central probe agencies to intercept and monitor information stored on any computer device.

Siromani Akali Dal's Prem Singh Chandu Majra demanded the government should initiate a process so that the British government should apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

As the ruckus continued, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House for the day.

Before the adjournment, she took consent of the House to resume the proceedings on December 27 after Christmas vacation.

The House also witnessed an earlier adjournment when it met for the day during Question Hour session as the AIADMK, the TDP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering in support of their various demands.

The AAP members led by Bhagwant Maan then demanded end of sealing in Delhi.

During the pandemonium Arakkonam MP G.Hari of the AIADMK tore some papers and through them towards the reporter's table.

Amid the din, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.

--IANS

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