‘Mishra must quit’ rocks LS
Environment min. manages to introduce Biodiversity Amendment Bill
EARLIER, CONGRESS' Lok Sabha whip Manickam Tagore moved a motion of adjournment in the House, seeking a debate on the Lakhimpur Kheri SIT report's findings. Trinamul Congress and Left members also entered the Well of the House raising slogans.
Chaos and repeated adjournments rocked Parliament on Thursday as the Opposition demanded the immediate dismissal of minister of state for home Ajay Mishra after a SIT finding indicated his son Ashish Mishra’s alleged role in the “pre-planned” killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress member Rahul Gandhi called the minister of state a “criminal” while seeking his removal from the government, leading to another day of pandemonium. Amidst the din, environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, however, managed to introduce the Biodiversity Amendment Bill, following which the House was adjourned for the day, to meet on Friday.
Gandhi, who had a question on the MSME sector listed against his name, demanded the removal of the MoS when Speaker Om Birla called his name during the Question Hour.
“We should be allowed to speak about the murder that was committed in Lakhimpur Kheri, where there was an involvement of the minister and about which it has been said that it was a conspiracy. The minister who killed farmers should resign and be punished,” said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.
Asking Gandhi to ask his question, the Speaker said: “You are a senior member. You ask question number 262. You will be given adequate time to ask the question you have listed for Question Hour. You claim that you are not allowed to speak in the House. I will give you adequate time if you stick to the question listed by you.”
However, Gandhi continued with his charge, saying: “The minister’s involvement in the Lakhimpur
Kheri killings has come to light. It has been said that there was a conspiracy. We should be allowed to speak about it. He should be removed from the government. He is a criminal, and action should be taken against him.”
Earlier, Congress’ Lok Sabha whip Manickam Tagore moved a motion of adjournment in the House, seeking a debate on the Lakhimpur Kheri SIT report’s findings. Trinamul Congress and Left members also entered the Well of the House raising slogans.
Meanwhile, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced by minister of environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav, seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging cultivation of such plants and facilitating fast-tracking of research, patent application process and transfer of research results, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, was enacted to provide for the conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components, and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and knowledge.
The Act seeks to fulfil India’s obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity and Nagoya Protocol on “access and benefit sharing” and to ensure that the benefits derived from the use of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge are shared in a fair and equitable manner among the indigenous and local communities.
The law also provides for a decentralised threetiered mechanism comprising the National Biodiversity Authority, state biodiversity boards or Union Territory biodiversity councils, as the case may be, and biodiversity management committees.
Each biodiversity management committee prepares ‘people’s biodiversity registers’ which keep a record of all flora and fauna including details of traditional knowledge available in their region.
The Act provides a mechanism for accessing and sharing of biological or genetic resources, and fair and equitable benefits arising from it with biodiversity management committees.