Picture : Twitter/ ANI
The Monsoon Session, 2023 of Parliament which commenced on 20th of July, 2023 has been adjourned sine die on 11th of August, 2023. The Session provided 17 sittings spread over a period of 23 days.
According to a report by PTI, The ethnic violence in Manipur dominated the Monsoon session which ended on Friday with Parliament witnessing repeated disruptions and protests by the Opposition in both Houses and a fiery debate in the Lok Sabha where a no-confidence motion against the BJP Led NDA government was defeated.
No-confidence motion in the Council of Ministers moved by Gaurav Gogoi was discussed for approx. 20 hours. 60 Members including Ministers participated in the discussion, which was replied to by Hon’ble Prime Minister. The Motion was negatived by the House via voice vote.
Lok Sabha also passed a unanimous resolution appealing for peace in the northeastern state. The Houses were adjourned sine die on Friday, bringing down the curtain on a tumultuous session that also saw the suspension of four members — two each of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — with leader of Congress in the Lower House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury being among them.
During the Session 20 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and 5 Bills were introduced in Rajya Sabha. 22 Bills were passed by Lok Sabha and 25 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha. One Bill each was withdrawn with the leave of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively. Total number of Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament during the Session is 23.
As per PTI report, In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said a total of 50 hours and 21 minutes during the 17 sittings of the House were lost due to avoidable disruptions, adversely impinging on the overall productivity of this session. At the conclusion of the session, he asked members “to make an assessment of the ground we have covered in our journey towards meaningful governance and legislative action”.
A Bill replacing the Ordinance, namely, The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 which was promulgated by the President before Monsoon Session, was considered and passed by the Houses with a view to give effect to the intent and purpose behind the provisions of article 239AA of the Constitution, by a permanent authority, headed by the Chief Minister of Delhi along with the Chief Secretary, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Principal Secretary, Home, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, is being constituted to make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor regarding matters concerning transfer postings, vigilance and other matters.
Some of the major Bills passed by both Houses during the Session are as under as released by PIB:
The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to make the process of sanctioning of films for exhibition more effective and in tune with the changed times by including enabling provisions in the Act to check film piracy, introduce age-based categories of certification and remove redundant provisions in the existing Act.
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks for inclusion of Hattee community of Trans Giri area of Sirmour district in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Himachal Pradesh.
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks for inclusion of Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, and Bhuyan communities as synonyms of the Bharia Bhumia community. It also includes three Devanagari versions of the name of the Pando community in Chhattisgarh.
The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks (i) to strengthen governance, enhancing transparency, increasing accountability reforming electoral process etc.in the Multi-State Cooperative Societies by supplementing existing legislation and incorporating the provisions of Ninety Seventh Constitutional Amendment. (ii) to improve monitoring mechanism and ensuring Ease of Doing Business for Multi-State Cooperative Societies.
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to (i) reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging cultivation of medicinal plants; (ii) encourage Indian system of medicine; (iii) facilitate fast-tracking of research, patent application process, transfer of research results while utilising the biological resources available in India without compromising the objectives of United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol; (iv) decriminalise certain provisions; (v) bring more foreign investments in the chain of biological resources, including research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising the national interest.
The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 seeks to Amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 for introducing Exploration Licence & to delist some minerals from the list of atomic minerals.
The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 seeks to provide for grant of production lease to private sector only through auction by competitive bidding to enable early allocation of operating rights through a transparent and non-discretionary process. Also to adopt other features of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, such as, establishment of trusts for mining affected persons and encouraging exploration, removing process of discretionary renewals and providing uniform lease period of fifty years, introduction of composite licence, providing for area limits, easy transfer of composite licence or production lease, etc.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 intends to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 by inter-alia clarifying the applicability of the Act in various types of lands and to streamline the process of approvals under the Act.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 Besides decriminalisation of minor offences, the Bill envisages rationalisation of monetary penalties, depending on the gravity of offence, bolstering the trust-based governance. Yet another novelty involved in the proposal is increase of ten per cent. of the minimum amount of fine and penalty levied, after the expiry of every three years, once the Bill becomes a law
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to accommodate progressive changes in the society during the last five decades, making registration process people friendly and to update other databases at national and state level using database of registered births and deaths.
The Mediation Bill, 2023 seeks to promote and facilitate mediation, especially institutional mediation, for resolution of disputes, commercial or otherwise, enforce mediated settlement agreements, provide for a body for registration of mediators, to encourage community mediation and to make online mediation as acceptable and cost effective process and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023 seeks to empower the Commander – in – Chief or the Officer -in- Command of Inter-Services Organisations in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, the Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950, who are serving under or attached to his Command, for maintenance of discipline and proper discharge of their duties.
The Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to provide for (i) alignment of IIM Act with Acts governing the IITs and other Institutes of National Importance. (ii) inclusion of NITIE, Mumbai in the schedule of the IIM Act, 2017 and renaming NITIE, Mumbai as IIM Mumbai.
The National Dental Commission Bill, 2023 seeks to regulate the profession of dentistry in the country, to provide for quality and affordable; dental education, to make accessible high quality oral healthcare and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, 2023 seeks to provide for regulation and maintenance of standards of education and services by nursing and midwifery professionals, assessment of institutions, maintenance of a National Register and State Registers and creation of a system to improve access, research and development and adoption of latest scientific advancement and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks Inclusion of Mahra, Mahara community as a synonyms of Mahar, Mehra, Mehar at Sl. No. 33 in the list of Scheduled Castes of Chhattisgarh.
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill, 2023 To establish the Anusandhan National Research Foundation to provide high level strategic direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in the fields of natural sciences including mathematical sciences, engineering and technology, environmental and earth sciences, health and agriculture, and scientific and technological interfaces of humanities and social sciences, to promote, monitor and provide support as required for such research and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 seeks to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks : (a) to revise the provisions of the Act so as to reduce the regulatory compliance burden to the stakeholders without diluting the core principles of environment protection in coastal areas; (b) to decriminalize the offence(s) under the Act; (c) to expand the scope of the Act to bring all coastal aquaculture activities under its ambit; and (d) to remove difficulties and regulatory gaps in the Act for effective implementation, and to facilitate ease of doing business.)
The Pharmacy (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to provide that any person whose name has been entered in the register of pharmacist maintained under the Jammu and Kashmir Pharmacy Act, 2011 or possesses qualification (medical assistant/pharmacist) prescribes under the said act shall be deem to have been entered in the register of pharmacist prepared and maintained under chapter IV of the said act subject to condition that an application to be made in this behalf with in a period of one year from the commencement of the Pharmacy (Amendment) Act, 2023 on payment of such fees, in such a manner, as may be prescribed by the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and administration of Union Territory of Ladakh.
