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Students protesting against the Agnipath scheme in New Delhi on June 29.PTI
The Opposition is likely to demand a discussion on the Agnipath scheme in Parliament next week after the debate on price rise is taken up in both the Houses, sources said on Sunday.
A discussion on price rise has been listed in the Lok Sabha for Monday and in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Opposition leaders said there was a consensus among them about the need for a discussion on Agnipath, which had sparked widespread violence across the country.
However, with barely 10 working days remaining before the Monsoon Session ends on August 12, it is unlikely that the parties would be able to extract a debate on the recruitment scheme in either House.
“We will definitely raise the issue in Parliament, however there is very little time to force a discussion on it as the session is ending on August 12 and in between there is a weekend, the Vice-Presidential election as well as the farewell for (outgoing Vice-President) Venkaiah Naidu,” an Opposition leader said.
Also, some leaders said the parties had different stands on the issue with those based in the northern region demanding a complete withdrawal of the scheme, while some parties such as the Trinamool Congress demanding that the State governments be freed of the liability to provide jobs for Agniveers.
Sources said the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party and the Congress had already filed notices demanding a discussion on Agnipath in both Houses.
Opposition leaders have indicated that the government had conveyed to them informally it had no plans of accommodating its request on Agnipath as the matter was sub judice .
Bills to be passed
The government has also listed two Bills — the Central Universities(Amendment) Bill, 2022 to be introduced and also the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 — to be passed in the Lok Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, two Bills will come up for consideration and passing on Monday — the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005; and a Bill to provide for the national measures for protecting the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems.
