Winter session of Parliament to begin today; Centre plans to table 16 new bills in 17 days

The Winter session of the Parliament is all set to begin on Wednesday, December 7 wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government will table 16 new bills during the course of this session. 

The Winter session which will end on December 29 will have a total of 17 working days spread over a period of 23 days. Notably, this session will be the inaugural session where Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar will officiate proceedings in the Rajya Sabha as the ex-officio chairman of the Upper House. 

Winter session of Parliament to begin from today

It is anticipated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the media ahead of the first day of the Parliament's Winter session in Delhi. In addition to this, External Affairs Minister is slated to address the Parliament on Wednesday.

In this session, the Lok Sabha will pay tributes to members who passed away during the inter-session period, on the first day. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who passed away in October after a prolonged illness, will be among the departed members to be remembered.

The BJP-led government is expected to table 16 new bills during the 17 sittings of this session. It is pertinent to mention that this session of the Parliament begins a day before the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and it is likely that the outcomes of the elections will have a bearing on the proceeding of the Houses. Also, Congress and other opposition parties will try to corner the government over several issues. 

Taking to his Twitter, Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla said, "The Winter Session of the Lok Sabha will start from today. It is hoped that the cooperation of all parties will be received in the orderly functioning of the House. Honourable members will try to solve the problems of the public through collective thinking. It will also be my endeavour that the members get enough opportunities to present their opinion."

It is pertinent to mention that on Tuesday, the government held a meeting with floor leaders of all parties requesting active cooperation and support for the smooth functioning of both the Houses of Parliament.

16 new bills to be tabled in the Parliament

The government has planned to introduce 16 new bills, including the one which seeks to increase accountability and reform the electoral process in multi-state cooperative societies, during the session.

According to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued recently, the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is being introduced with the objective of strengthening governance, enhancing transparency, increasing accountability and reforming the electoral process in the multi-state cooperative societies by supplementing existing legislation and incorporating the provisions of 97th Constitution amendment.

Some of the other bills are The National Dental Commission Bill, National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, The Cantonment Bill 2022, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022.

The National Dental Commission Bill seeks to set up a National Dental Commission and repeal the Dentists Act, 1948. On the other hand, the National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, another measure the Health Ministry plans to introduce, seeks to set up a National Nursing and Midwifery Commission (NNMC) and to repeal the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947.

The cantonment bill relates to the administration of cantonments with a view to impart greater democratisation, modernisation and efficiency.

The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill seeks to incorporate certain aspects of the Madrid Registration System. The Madrid system of International Registration for Marks provides a one-stop solution to enterprises for registering their trademarks and protecting their brands in multiple countries.

The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022, seeks to amend the parent Act to simplify some of the procedures to be more accessible to maximum stakeholders. And the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022 will seek to repeal redundant and obsolete laws.

(With inputs from agencies)