Lok Sabha to discuss demands for grants under Railway Ministry, Jal Shakti

The Lok Sabha is set to discuss and vote on the demands for grants under the control of the Ministry of Railways and the Jal Shakti Ministry, an official list released by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh read on Tuesday.

Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways) and C R Patil (Jal Shakti) will lay down the demands for the grants under their respective ministries on the floor of the house today.

Thirteen other union ministers will also lay down papers related to their respective ministries on the floor of the lower house.

Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), S P Singh Baghel and George Kurian for Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; Virendra Kumar for Commerce and Industry; Ram Nath Thakur and Bhagirath Choudhary for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Nityanand Rai and Bandi Sanjay Kumar for Home Affairs; Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani for Rural Development; B L Verma for Social Justice and Empowerment; and Pabitra Margherita for Ministry of Textiles will lay down papers for discussion in the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders also submitted a motion for adjournment to discuss the "affordable quality of medicines for a healthier future" and "Impact of new RBI rule on Jewel loans."

Congress MP Manickam Tagore submitted a motion to discuss the new RBI rule, saying that the rule will likely "create significant hardship, especially for those already struggling with their finances."

"I rise today to move an adjournment motion on the rcent policy changes introduces by the Reserve bank of India (RBI) regarding the repayment of loans," read the motion by Tagore.

Tagore mentioned that the previous rule allowed customers to repay only the interest accrued on the jewel loans during the loan tenure, and then have the option to renew their loan at the end without repaying the full entire principal amount.

"This practice has been a great relief for many, particularly small businesses, farmers and economically disadvantaged,. However, the new rule requires people to pay the entire amount before they could repledge their jewels for a new loan. " read the notice.

Congress leader Vijaykumar (alias Vijay Vasanth) submitted a notice on the quality of medicines, saying that the prices of medicines have "risen sharply," and putting the common man under tremendous financial strain.

"According to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the prices of more than 800 essential medicines have increased by over 10-20 pc in the last five years, significantly impacting the affordability of life saving drugs," read the notice by Vijaykumar.

The MP is also seeking to discussing expensive life-saving drugs, a monopoly of Pharmaceuticals and limited contribution of domestic Pharmaceutical industry in key areas, such as locally manufacturing oncology drugs.

The Lok Sabha session is set to start at 11 AM today, after being on a break during Holi till March 17.