New Delhi
The Modi government has expanded the tentative list of the bills from 17 to 23 for piloting them in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday and will continue till August 13, and they include replacement of 4 ordinances promulgated since the budget session.
The ordinances that ought to be converted into the Acts of Parliament lest they lapse include the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance will have to be tweaked in view of the Supreme Court on Wednesday striking down a provision to cut down tenure of the tribunal members from 5 to 4 years. The ordinance was issued on April 5 since the bill introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 13 could not be passed.
The second ordinance on the anvil is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021, promulgated on April 4, that provides for the insolvency resolution process for corporate debtors classified as micro, small or medium enterprises under the MSME Development Act, 2006, to ensure “quicker, cost-effective and value maximising outcomes for all the stakeholders, in a manner which is the least disruptive to the continuity of their businesses and preserves the jobs.”
The third is the Essential Defence Services Ordinance, promulgated on June 30, is to regulate un-interrupted supply of arms, ammunitions and other goods and services to the Armed Forces in case of strike against the decision to corporatise the ordnance factories.
The fourth ordinance, issued on October 28, 2020, and reissued early this year, relates to Commission of Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, Bill, to establish a self-regulated and democratically monitored mechanism to tackle the menace of air pollution in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, to replace ad hoc measures adopted every year.
Ninteen other bills listed for consideration in the monsoon session of Parliament are:
-- DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 to regulate the use of DNA technology for establishing th identity of certain persons. It is identical to a 2018 Bill that was passed by the previous Lok Sabha in January 2019, but lapsed on constitution of the new House.
-- Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020 is to criminalise trading/importing of human embryos, abandoning children born artificially, using intermediates to obtain donors and transferring human embryos into a male or an animal.
-- Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill is to enable easy and time-bound access to the depositors of their hard-earned money and further instil their confidence about the safety of their money in banks.
-- Pension Fund Regulatory (Amendment) Bill is for the universasl pension coverage as announced in the Budget in 2020.
-- Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill to include step children, adoptive children and legal guardians of minor children in the Senior Citizens Act of 2007 and empower children and relatives, besides senior citizens, to appeal against the decisions of a tribunal to clear the cloud created by the conflicting decisions of some High Courts.
-- Electricity (Amendment) Bill to de-license the distribution business for increased cmpetition and specify rights and duties of consumers.
-- Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill is to combat the nuisance of trafficking of humans, especially women and children, create legal, economic and social environment for victims and prosecution of the offenders.
-- Central Universities (Amendment) Bill to set up a central university in Ladakh.
-- Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that was introduced in the Lok Sabha in September 2020 to widen the scope of the entities engaged in the factoring business.
-- National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill to declare two institutes of food technology as institutions of national importance, namely (i) the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli; and (ii) the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur.
-- Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Amendment Bill to facilitate auction of the coal blocks and making the state governments give lease to the successful bidders.
-- Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is to reform and speed up the disciplinary mechanism of the Chartered Accountancy Institutes.
-- Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill is to decriminalize 12 compoundable offences which deal with procedural and technical violations.
-- Cantonment Bill is for greater democratization, modernization and overall improvement in governance structure of Cantonment Boards.
-- Indian Antarctica Bill, 2021 is to provide harmonious policy and regulatory framework for India's Antarctic activities.
-- Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Amendment) Bill is to make robust the system of laying the pipelines for transportation of petroleum and minerals.
-- Indian Institute of Forest Management Bill.
-- Indian Marines Fisheries Bill, and
-- Inland Vessels Bill to replace the 1917 Act.
