New Delhi: The Central Government on Monday introduced the ‘Energy (Amendment) Bill, 2022’ in the Lok Sabha despite opposition parties heaving opposing in the Lok Sabha. As soon as Power Minister RK Singh put the bill for table in the house, members of various parties including Congress, RSP, Trinamool Congress strongly opposed it. Opposition members said that this bill is not in the interest of farmers and general public. They said this is against the federal structure, so this bill cannot be introduced.
Amidst the uproar by the opposition parties, the Power Minister laid the Bill on the Table of the House and said that keeping in mind the public interest, it is being referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament for discussion with all the parties.
RSP’s NK Premachandran opposed the bill, saying it was against the rules and in violation of constitutional procedures. He said that this bill is unconstitutional and against the federal structure. There was no discussion of any kind with the states about the bill. He said that the Bill should not be introduced and it should be referred to the Standing Committee. He said that this bill will affect the distribution process of electricity.
At the same time, Congress’s Manish Tewari and leader of the party in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also strongly opposed the bill. Tewari said that this bill is different from the statement and objectives. He said that this is not in the interest of farmers and general public and this will lead to arbitrariness of power companies, for this reason the bill should be withdrawn.
DMK’s TR Baalu also opposed the bill, saying it was not in the interest of farmers and it should be sent to the Standing Committee for consideration. On the other hand, Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress opposed the bill saying that it is to benefit power companies and against farmers and common interest.
Power Minister Singh said that the free electricity given to the farmers will continue. There is no provision in the bill to stop the subsidy, he said that the irresponsible behavior of the opposition is not right and it is spreading false propaganda without any reason. Singh said that he himself has proposed to send this bill to the Standing Committee.