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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- 10 March 2025 9:54 AM GMT
Elections not fair, take action against EC: Trinamool's Kalyan Banerjee in Lok Sabha
Raising the issue of alleged "faulty" voter lists in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee demanded action against the Election Commission and said that the poll body had "failed" to conduct fair and transparent elections over the past few years.
Speaking during the Zero Hour in the lower house, he said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had first flagged the issue of numerous instances of "duplicate" voter cards and the explanation given by the Election Commission was a clear breach of the Conduct of Election Rules itself.
The "faulty" voter lists were a matter of serious concern and amounted to a breach of Rule 20 of the Conduct of Elections Rule, the TMC member said.
"These things have come up over the last few years. Earlier, it was not there. Where is the increase in the number of voters in West Bengal from? Voters are coming from Gujarat and Haryana... This is not tolerable," Kalyan Banerjee, the Lok Sabha member from Sreerampur, said.
"The Election Commission, all the time, says they have conducted transparent and fair elections. It is clear that there were no transparent elections for the last few years. There was no fair election for the last few years, not at all," he said.
"The Election Commission has not done a proper act and appropriate proceedings should be brought against the Election Commission for this reason," the Trinamool Congress leader said.
The Trinamool Congress has been raising the issue of duplicate Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, following which the Election Commission declared that it would take corrective measures within the next three months.
The Election Commission had rejected the Trinamool Congress claim that the voter lists were manipulated to allow voters from other states to exercise their franchise in West Bengal.
The poll body also made it clear that while the EPIC numbers of some voters "may be identical," other details such as demographic information, Assembly constituency and polling booth are different. PTI
- 10 March 2025 9:06 AM GMT
Congress wants discussion on Voters' List
Kharge wants detailed discussion on Voters' List issue
- 10 March 2025 8:06 AM GMT
INDIA bloc MPs protest after girl from Bihar found dead in Varanasi
Opposition MPs from Bihar on Monday staged a protest outside Parliament demanding justice for a 17-year-old girl who was found dead in her hostel room in Varanasi.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MPs Misa Bharti and Manoj Jha, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation MPs Raja Ram Singh and Sudama Prasad, and Congress MP Manoj Singh held placards and raised slogans demanding justice for the girl.
The MPs alleged that the girl was raped and murdered. They also compared the incident with the 2020 incident of the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras and demanded an inquiry.
They also pointed out that the incident occurred in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.
According to reports, a 17-year-old girl from Bihar's Sasaram, who was preparing for NEET exams in Varanasi, was found hanging in her hostel room on February 1.
The girl's family has reportedly alleged that the police conducted a postmortem, and performed the last rites without their consent. PTI
