Important amendment in Right to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill could not be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Bill sought to treat children with disabilities as disadvantaged group under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. While the Left was keen on the Bill's passage, BJP said there was not enough time to discuss it. The party wanted a four-hour discussion on the Bill, whereas Left said it would be happy to pass it with even half-an-hour discussion. An upset HRD minister Kapil Sibal could be seen talking to BJP members, requesting them to let the Bill pass. Even Brinda Karat of CPM tried to convince BJP members but to no avail. Sibal said he had come prepared but was told minutes before the start of the proceedings that the Bill was not going to be taken up. Karat blamed both Congress and BJP, saying the Bill was “sacrificed because of the government managers and obduracy of BJP”. She said parliamentary affairs minister P K Bansal did not make effort for the passage of the Bill.
