Govt defends delayed start of monsoon session of Parliament

Business Line, June 21, 2012

The monsoon session of Parliament will begin on August 1 and end on September 8. Usually, the monsoon session begins in mid-July.

Speaking to newspersons the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, confirmed that the session would begin on August 1. he said that there have been earlier instances of the monsoon session starting in August, when questioned on why the start of the session was delayed.

The Government has already indicated that it plans to introduce the Lokpal Bill during the forthcoming session of Parliament. The Food Security and the Land Acquisition Bills are also likely to be taken up during the session.

The Budget session was a truncated one due to the elections in four states and one Union Territory which were held in April and May this year. The winter session was a wash out after the Government initially refused to accede to the Opposition demand to constitute Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into various issues including allocation of 2G spectrum. The Government eventually relented and set up a JPC to look into the issue.

There is speculation that the monsoon session is being delayed to give more time for the Government to reach common ground on the Lokpal Bill.

The Prime Minister is also likely to undertake a major reshuffle of the Cabinet before the session gets underway.

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