Today the Upper House of the Parliament is set to have its first debate on the Covid-19 pandemic in response to the continuous criticism it has been receiving from the opposition parties. The government will be focusing upon its successful response to the pandemic in terms of recovery rate and low mortality rate for Covid-19 in comparison to other countries.

The chairman of Rajya Sabha, Venkaiah Naidu, has decided to adjoin the Covid-19 debate with the Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan’s clarifications on his statement. This move has come under a furor from opposition parties especially the Congress.
On September 15th, 2020, India accounted for 91,136 new cases of Covid-19 making the total number of active cases cross 5 million. The number of cases has been increasing rapidly for the past few months disproving the prediction by NITI Aayog, signifying that at present, the rate of transmission of this virus is very high in India. It also accounts for the worst-ever daily infection rate in the world.

India is the second-worst hit country by the Covid-19 pandemic followed by Brazil. USA remains the worst-hit country with 6.69 million cases. In this context, Congress aims at raising the questions of a rapidly contracting economy of the country which has contracted by 23.9% in the first quarter of this financial year. The party also seeks a full-grown separate discussion on the loss of livelihoods for millions hit by the pandemic.

Jairam Ramesh, the Congress Chief whip, said in a letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman that if the parties cannot have a full-fledged discussion on the Covid-19 situation without being circumscribed by the minister’s statement then there was no point of having the Rajya Sabha session. He also added that the decision of combining the debate discussion with the health minister’s statement clarification runs contrary to the assurance given by junior minister for parliamentary affairs, V Muraleedharan to him, that the two will be taken up separately.

He also demanded a 4-hour debate for a proper discussion on the Covid-19 pandemic, stating in his letter referring the Business Advisory Committee meeting held on September 13, where it was mentioned that it is very important to have a discussion on the prevailing public health situation.

Some bills have been listed to be passed onto the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, including the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, and the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill.

While in the lower house of the Parliament, the Lok Sabha has listed 3 debatable bills for passage, which includes Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill.

Opposition parties including Congress in Haryana and Punjab have raised their objections to these bills in view of the farmers’ protests going on against these new laws.

Congress made a statement last week stating that if the ordinance becomes law, all key financial intermediaries will come under the control of the Central Government, which will mean more centralization. Congress Party representatives stated that the party stands for decentralization and for empowering states. This statement was made regarding the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill and other ordinances.