Trinamool Congress slams government for not giving party chairmanship of Parliamentary Committees
The Hindu
TMC MP Derek O'Brien pointed out that his party has zero MPs heading such panels despite being the third largest in Parliament and the second largest Opposition party.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien on November 11 hit out at the government over the choice of chairpersons of Parliamentary committees, pointing out that his party has zero MPs heading such panels despite being the third largest in Parliament and the second largest Opposition party.
"56 new Chairpersons for #Parliament Committees announced. BJP make a mockery of it. Parties (including some soft allies) with fewer MPs become Chairpersons. Third largest party in Parliament, second largest Opposition party TMC get ZERO!," he said in a tweet.
He also posted the full list of chairpersons on his Twitter handle. In a reconstitution of Parliamentary panels, notified by Secretariats of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, chairpersons of several committees were changed last month.
With the Congress losing the chairmanship of Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs in the last rejig, all key Parliamentary panels — External Affairs, Defence, and Finance — lie with the ruling BJP.
Besides Home Affairs, the Congress was also not given the chairmanship of Information and Technology in the reconstitution of Parliamentary panels, which happens annually. Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been replaced by BJP MP and former DGP of Uttar Pradesh Brijlal as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing committee on Home Affairs.
Also read | Why are parliamentary standing committees necessary?
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.