NDA minister asks Speaker to give SC and ST MPs more time in Lok Sabha
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying parliamentarians from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are not receiving adequate time to speak on important Bills. An MP cited in the letter said the concern was shared by several lawmakers, though the discussion was informal.
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to ensure that MPs from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes receive adequate time to speak during debates on important Bills. In a letter dated September 16, Mr. Manjhi referred to an August 5 meeting of National Democratic Alliance MPs held at his residence.
He said BJP MP Gajendra Singh Patel, who represents the reserved tribal constituency of Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, had raised the issue on behalf of several MPs. Mr. Patel told The Hindu that the concern was not his alone.
He described the discussion as an informal recommendation, saying that MPs sometimes received an opportunity to speak and sometimes did not. He added that all parliamentarians wanted more time on the floor. Mr.
Manjhi said the NDA parliamentary groups meet quarterly to provide lawmakers with a forum to raise concerns. The leader chairing each group then conveys those issues to the relevant ministry or department. He said Mr.
Patel had raised the matter for several first-time MPs from SC and ST communities and that his own letter conveyed the principle that every parliamentarian should have the right to speak. Mr. Manjhi clarified that the August meeting was not restricted to SC and ST MPs.
His intervention comes after he also expressed support for sub-categorising Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservations and introducing a creamy-layer provision. He has argued that reservation benefits are concentrated among relatively empowered Dalit communities while groups such as Musahar and Musahar-Bhuiyan communities remain disadvantaged. His position has been opposed by Cabinet colleague Chirag Paswan, who said reservation addressed historical social discrimination and untouchability rather than economic status.
The BJP won 55 of the 131 seats reserved for SC and ST candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, down from 77 in 2019. The party has since sought to strengthen its engagement with these communities.
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