The Lok Sabha debated the Viksit Bharat Bill to replace MGNREGA amidst opposition demands for it to be sent to a standing committee. Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Shashi Tharoor criticised the government for bypassing scrutiny.
Opposition Demands Committee Scrutiny
Opposition members pressed for the bill to be referred to the standing committee for scrutiny.
Congress leader KC Venugopal told reporters that the SHANTI Bill and the bill to replace MGNREGA should have been sent to the Standing Committee. "This important legislation has to be thoroughly examined. That is why we are asking that it be sent to the standing committees. What is wrong with it?... The government did not want to have an in-depth discussion on these two major issues, which have a far-reaching impact. Nuclear power will affect all common people in India, especially those living near the plants.... Number two, with MGNREGA, basically, crores of employers and workers are going to be affected very poorly," he said.
Lok Sabha earlier in the day passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 (SHANTI Bill).
Tharoor Slams 'Brute Majority' Approach
Party leader Shashi Tharoor also slammed the government for not sending "important bills" to the Standing Committee. "I'm afraid it seems to be inevitable that the government never takes a bill back to rethink it in light of what the parliamentary debate indicates. If you listen to a large number of the opposition speeches, there were very serious concerns expressed about liability, about the rights of our Indian citizens who might one day be facing problems as a result of this. The government remains impervious... The net result is that bills pass with the brute majority of the ruling party... On some issues like this, it would have been in the national interest to have a more detailed discussion in the committees... But this seems to be the government's style," he said
"I'm afraid ultimately none of us wants anything to go wrong in our country's nuclear system. But if it ever does, I'm afraid some of the words we spoke will come back to haunt the government... Nuclear energy is one legitimate arrow in our quiver. It cannot be something we're over-dependent on... But passing a bill that removes all the protections thoughtfully embedded in the legislation over the years raises some real questions... I am not objecting to private participation per se, but the private participation should respect the conditions of security, safety and public interest that I pointed out in my speech," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)