PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA R E S U M E OF THE BUSINESS TRANSACTED BY THE RAJYA SABHA 245TH SESSION (29th January to 9th February, 2018 And 5th March to 6th April, 2018) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi (Website –http://rajyasabha.nic.in) P R E F A C E This publication contains a brief resume of the business transacted by the Rajya Sabha during its Two Hundred and Forty Fifth Session. NEW DELHI; DESH DEEPAK VERMA —————— Secretary-General. May 17, 2018 C O N T E N T S PAGES 1. Summons 1 2. Duration of the Session 1 3. National Anthem 1 4. President's Address to both Houses of Parliament-Laid on 1 the Table 5. Announcement regarding the Leader of the House 2 6. Oath or Affirmation 2-6 7. Welcome to New Members 6 8. Obituary References 7-8 9. References by the Chair 9-10 10. Tributes to Martyrs Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev 10 11. Felicitations by the Chair 11-13 12. Papers Laid on the Table 14-16 13. Panel of Vice -Chairmen 17 14. Reports/ Statements of the Committees Presented/Laid on 17-19 the Table 15. Resignation by Members 20 16. Observations by the Chair 20 17. Leave of Absence 21 18. Good Wishes to the Deputy Chairman 21 19. Farewell to Retiring Members 21-22 20. Withdrawal of Members 22 21. Personal Explanation 22 22. Messages from the Lok Sabha-Reported/Government Bills 23 Laid on the Table 23. Recommendations of the Business Advisory Committee 23 24. Statements regarding Government Business 23 25. Motions f or Election of Members to various 24 Committees/Bodies 26. Matters raised with permission 24-25 PAGES 27. Dispensing with Question Hour 26 28. Questions 26 29. Information to the House 26 30. Statements by Ministers 27-37 31. Special Mentions 38-40 32. Motion of Thanks on the President's Address 41 33. Division 42 34. President's Me ssage 43 35. Supplementary Demands for Grants –– Laid on the Table 44 36. Budget — Laid on the Table 45 37. Budget — General Discussion 46 38. Statutory Resolution s 47-48 39. Government Legislative Business 49 40. Private Members' Business — I. Private Members’ Bills 50-51 II. Private Members' Resolutions 52 41. Valedictory Remarks 53 42. National Song 53 43. Statement s howing the break-up of the time taken by the 54-55 Rajya Sabha on various items of business during the Session 44. Statement showing the time taken and time lost due 56 - 64 to adjournments of the House following interruptions during the Session 45. Highlights o f work transacted during the Session – At a 65-66 Glance BRIEF RESUME' OF THE BUSINESS TRANSACTED BY THE RAJYA SABHA DURING ITS TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY FIFTH SESSION (29-01-2018 to 06-04-2018) SUMMONS Summons for the Two Hundred and Forty Fifth Session of the Rajya Sabha was issued to the Members on the 12th of January, 2018. DURATION OF THE SESSION The Two Hundred and Forty Fifth Session of the Rajya Sabha was held in two parts, i.e. from the 29th of January, 2018 to the 9th of February, 2018 and from the 5th of March, 2018 to the 6th of April, 2018. The first part of the Session, which commenced on the 29th of January, 2018 was adjourned on the 9th of February, 2018, to enable the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees to examine and report on the Demands for Grants of various Ministries/Departments. The House re-assembled on the 5th of March, 2018 for the second part of the Session. The sitting of the House scheduled for the 26th of March, 2018, was cancelled. The House adjourned sine-die, as scheduled, on the 6th of April, 2018. The House sat for 30 days and the actual hours of sittings were 45 hours and 17 minutes (excluding recess intervals). The House was prorogued by the President on the 6th of April, 2018. NATIONAL ANTHEM On the 29th of January, 2018, the Session commenced with the playing of the National Anthem. (Time taken: 01 Minute) PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT LAID ON THE TABLE Secretary-General laid on the Table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the President’s Address to Members of both Houses of Parliament assembled together in the Central Hall on the 29th of January, 2018. (Time taken: 01 Minute) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– For Reference and Record The House met forty-five minutes instead of Half-an-Hour after the conclusion of the President's Address. Members were informed about the cancellation of sitting of the House through Parliamentary Bulletin Part-II on the 23rd of March, 2018. 1 ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING THE LEADER OF THE HOUSE On the 3rd of April, 2018, the Chairman made the following announcement:— "I have to inform Members, that I had received a letter dated the 2nd of April, 2018 from Shri Ananthkumar, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs informing me that the Prime Minister has appointed Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs to be the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha." (Time taken: 0-02 Mts.) OATH OR AFFIRMATION The newly elected/re-elected Members made and subscribed oath and took their seats in the House, as detailed 2 below:— Sl. No. Date Name of the Member State Time Taken 1. 29-01-2018 Shri Hardeep Singh Puri Uttar Pradesh 2. -do- Shri Narain Dass Gupta National Capital Territory of Delhi 0-04 3. -do- Shri Sushil Kumar Gupta -do- 4. -do- Shri Sanjay Singh -do- 5. 05-03-2018 Shri Hishey Lachungpa Sikkim 0-02 6. 03-04-2018 Shri C.M. Ramesh Andhra Pradesh 7. -do- Shri Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar -do- 8. -do- Prof. Manoj Kumar Jha Bihar 9. -do- Shri Ahmad Ashfaque Karim -do- 10. -do- Dr. Mahendra Prasad -do- 11. -do- Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad -do- 3 12. -do- Shri Akhilesh Prasad Singh -do- 13. -do- Shri Bashistha Narain Singh -do- 0-14 14. -do- Ms. Saroj Pandey Chhattisgarh 15. -do- Shri Mansukh Mandaviya Gujarat 16. -do- Shri Rathwa Naranbhai Jemlabhai -do- 17. -do- Shri Parshottam Rupala -do- 18. -do- Dr. Amee Yajnik -do- 19. -do- Shri Devender Paul Vats Haryana 20. -do- Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda Himachal Pradesh The Member was permitted to take oath from her seat due to fracture in her leg. Sl. No. Date Name of the Member State Time Taken 21. 03-04-2018 Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar Karnataka 22. -do- Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot Madhya Pradesh 23. -do- Shri Rajmani Patel -do- 24. -do- Shri Dharmendra Pradhan -do- 25. -do- Shri Ajay Pratap Singh -do- 26. -do- Shri Kailash Soni -do- 4 27. -do- Shrimati Vandana Chavan Maharashtra 28. -do- Shri Anil Desai -do- 29. -do- Shri Prakash Javadekar -do- 0-14 30. -do- Shri Kumar Ketkar -do- 31. -do- Shri V. Muraleedharan -do- 32. -do- Shri Narayan Rane -do- 33. -do- Dr. Anil Agrawal Uttar Pradesh 34. -do- Dr. Ashok Bajpai -do- 35. -do- Dr. Anil Jain -do- 36. -do- Shrimati Kanta Kardam -do- 37. 03-04-2018 Shri G.V.L. Narsimha Rao Uttar Pradesh 38. -do- Shri Sakaldeep Rajbhar -do- 39. -do- Shri Vijay Pal Singh Tomar -do- 40. -do- Shri Harnath Singh Yadav -do- 41. -do- Shri Anil Baluni Uttarakhand 42. -do- Shri Abir Ranjan Biswas West Bengal 0-04 43. -do- Shri Subhasish Chakraborty -do- 5 44. -do- Shri Md. Nadimul Haque -do- 45. -do- Dr. Santanu Sen -do- 46. -do- Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi -do- 47. 04-04-2018 Shri G.C. Chandrashekhar Karnataka 48. -do- Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah -do- 49. -do- Shri Prashanta Nanda Odisha 50. -do- Shri Soumya R. Patnaik -do- 0-06 51. -do- Shri Achyutananda Samanta -do- 52. -do- Dr. Kirodi Lal Meena Rajasthan 53. -do- Shri Madanlal Saini -do- 54. -do- Shri Bhupender Yadav -do- Sl. No. Date Name of the Member State Time Taken 55. 04-04-2018 Dr. Banda Prakash Telangana 56. -do- Shri Joginipally Santosh Kumar -do- 57. -do- Shri B. Lingaiah Yadav -do- 0-05 58. -do- Shrimati Jaya Bachchan Uttar Pradesh 59. 05-04-2018 Shri Prabhakar Reddy Vemireddy Andhra Pradesh 0-02 60. -do- Shri Syed Nasir Hussain Karnataka 6 Total: 0-51 WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS On the 3rd of April, 2018, the Chairman welcomed the newly elected and re-elected Members. (Time taken: 01 Minute) OBITUARY REFERENCES Obituary References were made in the House during the Session, as detailed below: — Sl. Date of Person in respect of whom Date of Time taken Remarks No Obituary Reference was made passing Hrs. Mts. Reference away 1. 29-01-2018 Shri Mohinder Singh 18-11-2017 The Chairman made references and the Kalyan, House observed silence, all Members ex-Member 0-04 standing, as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed. 2. -do- Shri Khagen Das, 21-01-2018 7 ex-Member, 3. 08-02-2018 Miss Frida Topno, 06-02-2018 0-03 -do- ex-Member 4. 05-03-2018 Shri Narsingh Narain 08-01-2018 Pandey, ex-Member -do- 5. -do- Dr. Faguni Ram , 25-02-2018 0-04 ex-Member 6. 07-03-2018 Dr. Jinendra Kumar Jain, 05-03-2018 0-03 -do- ex-Member Sl. Date of Person in respect of whom Date of Time taken Remarks No Obituary Reference was made passing Hrs. Mts. Reference away 7. 14-03-2018 Shri V.P.M. Samy, 02-02-2018 The Chairman made references and the ex-Member House observed silence, all Members 0-04 standing, as a mark of respect to the 8.