Indian minister asks Speaker to give SC and ST MPs more speaking time
Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to address concerns that MPs from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities are not given enough time to speak during debates on important Bills. An MP cited in the letter called the issue an informal concern shared by several lawmakers.
India’s Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Jitan Ram Manjhi, has asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to address concerns that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe MPs are not given adequate time to speak during debates on important Bills. Manjhi, who leads the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular), an ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance, made the request in a letter dated September 16. He referred to a meeting of NDA MPs held at his residence on August 5.
According to the letter, BJP MP Gajendra Singh Patel raised the issue at the meeting. Patel represents Khargone, a reserved tribal constituency in Madhya Pradesh. Patel later told The Hindu that the concern had been expressed by several MPs and was not his alone.
He described the recommendation as informal, adding that parliamentarians sometimes receive opportunities to speak and sometimes do not. Manjhi said the NDA parliamentary groups meet quarterly to provide a platform for members to raise grievances. He said Patel had brought up the matter on behalf of several first-time MPs from SC and ST communities and that everyone should have the right to speak in Parliament.
Manjhi clarified that the August meeting was not exclusively attended by SC and ST MPs. His intervention comes after he recently supported sub-categorisation within SC and ST reservations and the introduction of a creamy layer. Chirag Paswan, another Bihar-based NDA ally, opposed that position, arguing that reservation addresses historical social discrimination and untouchability.
The supplied report said the BJP won 55 of 131 reserved SC and ST seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, down from 77 in 2019.
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