Lok Sabha passes National Anti-Doping Bill, both Houses face adjournments due to opposition protests

The Lok Sabha passed the National Anti-Doping Bill on Wednesday as the stalemate over opposition demand for discussion on price rise continued with the government asserting that it is prepared for immediate discussion.

The Lok Sabha passed the National Anti-Doping Bill on Wednesday as the stalemate over opposition demand for discussion on price rise continued with the government asserting that it is prepared for immediate discussion. The Rajya Sabha saw repeated adjournments with Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh also suspended for a week for "unruly behaviour" after 19 opposition MPs were suspended on Tuesday for the remainder of this week.

The Chair repeatedly asked Sanjay Singh to withdraw from the House as he had been named but opposition continued with its protests forcing adjournments. Twenty Opposition MPs have been suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the week for disrupting proceedings. They started a 50-hour-long protest in Parliament complex.The relay protest is being held near the Mahatma Gandhi Statue.

The suspended MPs are from Trinamool Congress, DMK, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (CPI) and AAP. Four Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha on Monday for unruly behaviour. The issue of price rise is likely to be discussed early next week in the Rajya Sabha, sources said on Wednesday.

Ten leaders of Opposition parties on Wednesday met Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on the issue of the suspension of opposition members and their demand for a discussion on price rise. Lok Sabha also witnessed opposition protests with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi stating that the suspension of Opposition MPs can be revoked by the Chair if they assure they would not show placards in the House.

"We have been maintaining that the government is ready for discussion on price rise and today Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman resumed her office after recovering from Covid," he said, adding that if Opposition wants, "we can start discussion from today". Several Lok Sabha members took part in the debate on the National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021 and the legislation was passed after a reply by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur.

The minister said that the bill has been drafted through widespread consultations while keeping various global laws in mind. He said the bill will strengthen India's dope testing capacity.

The bill provides for a statutory framework for the operation of the National Anti-Doping Agency, the National Dope Testing Laboratory and other dope testing laboratories and for creation of a National Board for Anti-Doping in Sports to strengthen anti-doping activities in sport. It seeks to establish a National Board for Anti-Doping in Sport and provides for its composition, powers and functions and establish the National Anti-Doping Agency to be headed by a Director General.

The bill also seeks to strengthen the framework and mechanisms for carrying out the doping control programme in sports to ensure dope-free sport in India. Thakur said India needs to enhance its testing capacity to host major sports events and said the country can be hub of anti-doping tests due to cost advantage in conducting them.

He said the government is serious about aspect of data privacy and global protocols will be followed. (ANI)

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