Close to 40 bills, some of them important ones related to triple talaq, surrogacy, a bill that safeguards the rights of Other Backward Classes and the National Medical Commission bill, are scheduled to be introduced in Parliament’s Winter Session that began on Friday.
The Winter Session that will continue till 5 January 2018, is expected to be a stormy one as the Opposition will try to corner the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over alleged corruption in the Rafale deal. This will be the first session where Rahul Gandhi will be attending Parliament after becoming the president of the Indian National Congress.
“The main issues in the session will be supplementary demand for grants, Constitutional amendment Article 123 (Constitutional status to backward classes), and Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017. We will also discuss three ordinances including GST compensation to states,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told the media on 15 December before Parliament started.
Among the 40 bills, the important bills that are expected to be taken up are Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016.
The government also plans to reintroduce a bill in the Lok Sabha this Winter Session that will give the National Commission for Backward Classes the powers to safeguard the rights and interests of Other Backward Classes.
The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 makes prior sanction necessary to investigate officials, and the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 specifies grounds on which disclosures related to corruption may not be made.
The government is also bringing an amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017, clearing the path to detain a child in Class V, VIII or both, while allowing for re-examination.
Another important bill, the Central government’s Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which proposes to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship, is likely to generate a lot of controversy. The bill was amended by the Rajya Sabha in July and sent to the Lok Sabha.
The Centre will also be making a fresh attempt to clear the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, which has come in for criticism for recommending compensated surrogacy instead of altruistic surrogacy as proposed in the original bill. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is another critical bill that will be keenly watched as it sees an increase in penalties for violations of rules and forces states to comply with Central government rules when it comes to licencing taxi aggregators.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2017, is another important bill, which aims to prohibit certain persons such as promoters of defaulting companies from submitting a resolution plan under the bill.
The Centre will also be looking at introducing the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which would allow proxy voting for overseas electors (NRIs), the Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which seeks to simplify the procedure for ease of doing business, and the Consumer Protection Bill, 2017, while withdrawing the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015.