Parliament Session 2022 Highlights: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday informed the Rajya Sabha that the number of MBBS seats doubled from 51,000 to one lakh in 8 years. Mandaviya was replying after the discussion on the private bill ‘The Right to Health Bill, 2021’ was completed. Both the houses adjourned for the day and will reassemble on August 8.
Congress MPs including interim president Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders staged a protest outside the Parliament on Friday against issues including GST hike, price rise and unemployment. The Congress MPs will begin a march to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Meanwhile, Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu Friday told the House that MPs cannot avoid summons of law enforcement agencies in criminal cases when the session is on or otherwise. “As law-abiding citizens, it’s our duty to respect law & legal procedure,” he said. Venkaiah Naidu’s statement comes a day after the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons to Congress leaders in Parliament and accused the central government of trying to demoralise and intimidate the Opposition. Pointing out that he has been summoned by the ED at a time when Parliament is in session, Kharge asked if it was fair on the part of the agency to do so.