Govt made 'most sound', 'lacked substance' in Parliament: TMC's Derek O'Brien

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) The Union government deployed every device to "make the most sound" during the recently concluded Monsoon session of Parliament but lacked substance, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said in a blogpost on Tuesday.

The TMC leader referred to Greek philosopher Plato and said of the many concepts he introduced, one especially captured popular imagination and was later familiarised in the proverb "empty vessels make the most sound".

"Several centuries later, far away from the Greece of 380 BCE, an entire nation witnessed this old proverb play out in live action. Plato in Parliament," O'Brien said.

"The Government was seen deploying every device to 'make the most sound'. If Plato's postulate is to be followed, this manufactured noise can be traced back to a lack of substance," he said.

The TMC leader also listed a number of questions asked by opposition leaders during the session, and said they prove the Union government's 'lack of substance".

"Abhishek Banerjee (TMC) asked for the number of child labourers in the country. The government stated that over 3,000 cases were registered between 2018 and 2022. Actual current numbers not given," O'Brien said.

"Sudama Prasad [Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation] enquired about the valid documents needed for proving citizenship. The government responded by outlining the criteria for citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955. Not a single document was mentioned in the reply," he said, quoting several other replies.

O'Brien also said he asked a question on robot density in India against the global average, and the displacement of workers and imposition of a robot tax to offset job displacement.

"The government's response was on electronics manufacturing. Not a word on job losses," he said.

The month-long Monsoon session of Parliament ended on August 21, after it witnessed almost daily disruptions and noisy protests by the Opposition in both Houses over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. PTI AO AO KSS KSS