Parliament LIVE | Pradhan: Repeatedly wrote to TN CM to join NEP
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan replied to the discussion on the working of the Education Ministry in the Rajya Sabha
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday (March 11) said he repeatedly wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin urging him to join the National Education Policy (NEP) and PM SHRI.
Also read: CM Stalin vows TN will reject NEP, cites BJP’s hostility towards Tamils
Replying to discussion on the working of the Education Ministry in the Rajya Sabha, Pradhan said, "I do not dispute that the NEP has an ideological commitment which is our pride in Bharatiyata and our culture. This is why course books under NEP have to be prepared in 22 languages."
"I told him (Stalin) that Tamil Nadu has always been a pioneer in education," Pradhan said.
He added that the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu wrote back to me saying Tamil Nadu is "very keen to sign the MoU for establishing PM-SHRI schools in Tamil Nadu" and that "in this regard a state level committee has been constituted and based on the committee report MoU will be signed for 2024-2025".
DMK MPs protest
Earlier on Tuesday, Kanimozhi and other DMK MPs staged a protest within the Parliament premises over the NEP, the three-language policy, and against Pradhan over his remarks in Parliament on Monday calling the Tamil Nadu government “dishonest” and the people of the state “uncivilised”.
On Monday, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for about 30 minutes after DMK members staged protests over Pradhan’s remarks that the Tamil Nadu government was “ruining” the future of the students of the state by taking a complete “U-turn” on the issue of implementing the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI).
“The Tamil Nadu government had initially agreed to sign the MoU. But now they have changed the stand. Many non-BJP-ruled states, including Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, have signed the agreement,” he said. “They (DMK) are dishonest and they are ruining the future of the students of Tamil Nadu. They are doing politics,” he added.
Taking strong exception to the minister’s remarks, DMK members registered strong protests by raising slogans against the central government. After some time, Birla adjourned the House till 12 noon. Monday was the first day of the second half of Parliament’s Budget session.
Opposition walks out of Rajya Sabha
In Rajya Sabha, Opposition parties led by the Congress staged a walkout after their notices for discussions on issues ranging from “duplicate” voter ID cards to US funding to voter turnout were rejected, even as Union minister JP Nadda insisted that the government was ready to discuss any issue, provided they were under the rules.
The Opposition MPs raised slogans after the deputy chairman of the House, Harivansh, said a dozen notices under Rule 267, which calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up discussions on urgent matters, have been rejected. Citing the rejection, Harivansh did not allow Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to make his submission.
The opposition MPs then protested for a while before staging a walkout.
Notices by Opposition
Earlier, Harivansh said 12 notices had been received under Rule 267. Tiruchi N Siva of DMK, CPI’s Santosh Kumar P, Vaiko of MDMK, CPI’s PP Suneer, and P Wilson of DMK demanded discussions on concerns regarding the upcoming delimitation exercise in the southern states.
Trinamool Congress members Saket Gokhale and Sagarika Ghose, along with Pramod Tiwari and Ajay Maken of the Congress demanded discussions over the alleged lapse by the Election Commission in issuing multiple “duplicate” voter ID cards across states.
While Sanjay Singh of AAP demanded a discussion on the financial loss incurred by the small investors due to the continued decline in stock market indices, Ramji Lal Suman of the Samajwadi Party called for a discussion over a statement made by US President Donald Trump on American funding to increase voter turnout in India.
V Sivadasan of the CPI(M) wanted to raise issues faced by Anganwadi and mid-day meal workers.
In this Parliament session, the government is expected to get the Finance Bills passed, while the Opposition will look to confront it on Waqf Bill, NEP, delimitation, and US tariffs, among others. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also scheduled to table the Budget for Manipur, which is now under President’s Rule.
Also read:
Budget session: 'EPIC' showdown in the offing; Budget, Waqf Bill govt's top priorities
Hindi imposition 2.0? NEP brings TN language warriors back to forefront
Union Cabinet clears 14 changes to Waqf Bill proposed by JPC
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Live Updates
- 11 March 2025 9:54 AM GMT
Meeting of JPC on ONOE begins in Delhi
Delhi | Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting on 'One Nation, One Poll' begins in Parliament House complex. Committee members to interact with legal and constitutional experts today.
- 11 March 2025 9:49 AM GMT
BJP MP loses temper in LS, Opposition takes swipe
A BJP MP lost his cool inside the Lok Sabha with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijuju rushing to him to calm him down as he shouted at his party colleagues.
Andaman and Nicobar MP Bishnu Pada Ray lost his temper and his ire appeared to be primarily directed at BJP chief whip Sanjay Jaiswal.
As he started shouting sitting on the treasury benches, members' attention turned towards him. Rijiju rushed to him and tried to calm him down.
Ray appeared agitated over his request over certain issues not being entertained. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal also asked him to calm down to which Ray reacted sharply.
Opposition MPs took a swipe at the BJP over Ray's outburst with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asking the chair to give time to Ray to speak, saying "his voice is being suppressed".
Later, Ray seemed to have calmed down and was seen countering the Congress MPs during the discussion on the supplementary demands for grants, excess grants and the Manipur Budget. PTI
- 11 March 2025 9:42 AM GMT
Ruckus in Rajya Sabha over Kharge's remarks
Ruckus erupted in Rajya Sabha after BJP objected to Rajya Sabha LoP and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's remarks
"...I request you (Deputy Chairman) with folded hands to allow me (to speak)...'aapko kya kya thokna hai thik se thokenge, sarkar ko bhi thokenge'...," said Mallikarjun Kharge
Responding to his remarks, Leader of the House and BJP National President JP Nadda said, "...the language used by him and the attack on the Chair is condemnable. He should condemn it and apologise for using this language for the Chair. He should take back his words or it should be expunged."
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, "I apologise to you (Deputy Chairman), I have not used these words for you. I have said that 'hum sarkar ki policies ko thokenge'. I apologise to you and not to the government..."
- 11 March 2025 9:39 AM GMT
Languages don't grow due to govt's imposition: RJD MP
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, during discussion in Rajya Sabha on working of the Education Ministry, says the country has already lost a lot in the fight over languages and that languages don't grow because of government's imposition but because of their use by common people; Hindi hasn't expanded it's base because the government celebrates a Hindi Pakhwada (fortnight) but because of the people who use it. Jha slams the rising practice of 'NFS' - not found suitable - in filling vacancies, quotas for SC, ST and OBCs, asserting that this has become a pandemic now.
- 11 March 2025 9:33 AM GMT
Congress MP slams Odisha govt for 'deteriorating' law and order
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- 11 March 2025 9:30 AM GMT
Will serve people of Tamil Nadu with humility: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says, "I myself have been to Tamil Nadu twice, once for the work of the Agriculture Department and once for Rural Development. Now I am not making any allegations but on both occasions neither the Rural Development Minister nor the Agriculture Minister came to my meeting. I would like to request that the Central Government is committed to providing benefits...We salute the great people of Tamil Nadu, salute the Tamil culture, salute the Tamil language, we are all sons of Mother India, there is no question of discrimination. We will serve the people of Tamil Nadu and the farmers with humility."
- 11 March 2025 9:26 AM GMT
Union minister hits out at DMK for 'political agenda'
Speaking on protests over NEP, MoS Education Sukanta Majumdar says, "Elections are coming, that is why it is happening. The talks of discrimination being done to DMK government is wrong. Everybody knows three-language formula in NEP-2020, the government is prioritising mother tongue, Tamil is the mother tongue of Tamil Nadu, we are advocating for study in mother tongue till class 5, it should be till class 8. Do they not want it? Do they don't want the flexibility. They are creating a political agenda. As Dharmendra Pradhan said that the matter was almost settled, but then a political compulsion happened. The ministry will clarify. If you see data, students are choosing English over Tamil. They are not fighting for Tamil, instead we are."
- 11 March 2025 9:23 AM GMT
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP flays RSS leader for resorting to diversionary tactics
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- 11 March 2025 9:20 AM GMT
Congress MP seeks answers from EC on anomalies
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- 11 March 2025 9:16 AM GMT
DMK demands apology from Pradhan for expunged ‘uncivilised’ remark
Speaking during a protest against education minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his now expunged ‘uncivilised’ remark, DMK MP Kanimozhi demanded an apology from the minister and said an expunging of his remark does not suffice.
"We (DMK) have a privilege motion against the Minister. We requested the Speaker to take it up. This is not a small issue, the union government has no right, because it is a budgetary allocation for TN for SSA, just because they are forcing NEP on us, it is in the concurrent list, so they have to take our acceptance, before withholding the money, they have no right to do so. They have no right to withhold the money which is going to the students, it is ruining the future of the students. We expect the Minister to apologise and release the fund," said the DMK leader.
