Parliament: 18 day monsoon session to take up 11 Bills to replace ordinances

For the first under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic, Parliament will convene on Monday for an 18-day long Monsoon Session. The fourth session of the 17th Lok Sabha and 252nd session of Rajya Sabha may conclude on October 1.

In a statement, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said the Monsoon Session will provide a total of 18 sittings spread over a period of 18 days (all the days including Saturdays and Sundays of the ensuing session will be working days) and a total of 47 items (includes 45 Bills and two financial items) have been identified for being taken up.

During this session, the Modi government will table a total of eleven Bills replacing several ordinances that were passed in the course of the last six months which includes reforms in agriculture, labour laws and taxation. Some of these ordinances were cleared by the Union Cabinet as part of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' economic package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman May.

These include:

1. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
2. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Prices Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
3. The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
4. The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
5. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
6. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second) Amendment Bill, 2020
7. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
8. The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020
9. The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020
10. The Salary and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020
11. The Salary, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020

Several Opposition parties including regional ones have opposed these reforms, particularly in agriculture, labour and land laws, which they say will weaken regulatory oversight of industries and disrupt farm markets. 

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Further, some important pending legislations in the Houses required to be considered and passed during the Session are:

1. The Pesticides Management Bill, 2020
2. The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCIM) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha
3. The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha
4. The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
5. The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
6. The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020
7. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
8. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
9. The Rashtriya Raksha  University Bill, 2020
10. The National Forensic Science University Bill, 2020
11. The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
12. The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha
13. The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha
14. The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020
15. The Code On Social Security and Welfare, 2019
16. The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2019 
17. The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019

Earlier in the day, reports stated Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will not hold the all-party meeting (APM) before the Monsoon Session. An APM is conferred before the commencement of parliamentary sessions to discuss the agenda and set targets.

However, a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha is scheduled to be held on Sunday in the Parliament. Furthermore, there will be no question hour and private members' business during the monsoon session keeping in mind the pandemic situation.

COVID prevention protocols in place

As per mandatory protocol, each member, employee and officials will undergo an RT-PCR COVID-19 test ahead of the session. Furthermore, the attendance of parliamentarians will be recorded through a mobile app designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to curtail the risk of Coronavirus spread.

On the first day of the Session on September 14, the Lok Sabha will meet from 9 am to 1 pm, and sitting in the Rajya Sabha will begin at 3 pm to 7 pm. And on the following days, proceedings in Rajya Sabha will be held from 9 am till 1 pm while the time for Lok Sabha sittings has been fixed from 3 pm to 7 pm.

The session will see other measures like seating MPs in a staggered way in chambers of both Houses, as well as galleries to maintain physical distancing norms, and seats separated with poly-carbon sheets in the House.

(PTI Photo)

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