Questions

Disqualification of MP's and MLA's on the ground of holding office of profit is a controversial topic of nation-wide debate. It began with the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan from Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2006 with retrospective effect from July 14, 2004.There are separate provisions of disqualification for the Members of Parliament and MLAs. Our constitution clearly mentions that the Parliament has the power to make a law in respect to the issue of qualification and disqualification of the membership in case:

(i) He holds any office of profit under the Government of India or of any state, other than an office declared by a law of Parliament not to disqualify its holder.

(ii) He is of unsound mind and stand so declared by a competent court.

(iii) He is an undischarged insolvent.

(iv) He is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state, or is under any acknowledgement or allegiance or adherence to a foreign state, and

(v) It is he so disqualified by or under any law of Parliament. It applies to the case of 'defection' as prescribed in tenth schedule.

Government has announced its historic decision on 04.07.2018 to fix MSP at a level of at least 150 per cent of the cost of production for kharif crops 2018-19 which redeems the promise made in the Union Budget for 2018-19.The MSPs fixed by Government, cost and returns over all-India weighted average cost of production of crops for 2017-18 and 2018-19 is at Annexure.Cost of production varies in different states on account of difference in levels of irrigation, resource endowment, farm mechanization, land holding size, yield of crops etc.