New Delhi: For Winter Session of Parliament that begins on Dec 7, 2022, keep focus on price-rise and joblessness, the China border dispute, and the recent confrontation of the Centre with the Supreme Court over the collegium system of judges’ appointment. New political alignments in Bihar — with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) walking out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and joining the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance — and a leadership change in the Congress will be the new features of the winter session of Parliament that will begin on December 7 and end December 29 with a total of 17 sittings.The Parliament will pay tributes to the members who passed away during the inter-session period on the first day. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away in October. This will be the first session that Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar will chair as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
OPPOSITION STRATEGY FOR PARLIAMENT’S WINTER SESSION POINT TO BE NOTED
keep focus on price-rise
joblessness,
China border dispute
recent confrontation Centre
SC over the collegium system of judges’ appointment
It includes demanding a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm produce.
Prime demand of the 2020-21 farmers’ protest that had forced Narendra Modi’s government to reverse three laws on corporatisation of farming.
10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections, which was recently upheld by Supreme Court,
question the government over the recent cyber-terror attack on the country’s premier medical institution, the AIIMS in Delhi
WINTER SESSION OF PARLIAMENT WILL START ON DECEMBER
winter session of parliament will start on December 7, where 16 new bills, such as the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Amendment) Bill, 2022, will be tabled. Some of the Bills have already been passed by either of the Houses or have been reviewed by Parliamentary committees, and will be taken to the next level.There will be a total of 17 working days, and the winter session will go on till December 29, 2022. However, the data protection bill and bills to amend the banking act, insolvency law, and competition commission act have not been included in the legislative business list.
THE LIST OF 16 BILLS TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE PARLIAMENT THIS SESSION FOR THE FIRST TIME:
The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Cantonment Bill, 2022
The Old Grant (Regulation) Bill, 2022
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022
The National Dental Commission Bill, 2022
The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill, 2022
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2022
The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The North East Water Management Authority Bill, 2022
The Kalakshetra Foundation (Amendment) Bill, 2022
SOME BILLS HAVE ALREADY BEEN INTRODUCED AND WILL BE TAKEN UP FOR DISCUSSION AND PASSING.
The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019
The Mediation Bill, 2021
The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022
The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021
The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022
REALTED NEWS
With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi having announced already that he will not attend the
winter session as he is busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the session is expected to be tranquil.The winter session is traditionally one in which extensive legislative business is transacted and the government’s priority will be to clear Bills that have been cleared by one House and are pending in the other, said government sources.
Currently, 35 Bills are pending in Parliament. Of these, seven Bills are listed for consideration and passing. Sixteen Bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passing. One such, for instance, is the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, that enables carbon credit trading, and requires some kinds of consumers to meet their energy needs from non-fossil sources.Lok Sabha has already passed the Bill and Rajya Sabha needs to clear it for it to become an Act.
Similarly, the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that extends to the species protected under the law, and implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, was passed by the Lower House last December and needs to be passed by the Upper House.
Some Bills that were referred to parliamentary committees and have already undergone bipartisan scrutiny are awaiting passage. One such is the Mediation Bill, 2021, that sets up the
Mediation Council of India, mandates pre-litigation mediation, and makes mediation awards binding and enforceable. This is crucial because it envisages lowering the burden on courts.
A standing committee report was presented in July this year, and this Bill is considered an extremely important piece of legislation. The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, that was referred to the standing committee, is also expected to be passed by both Houses, following incorporation of standing committee suggestions. This Bill enables Indian authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas, and punishes acts of piracy with life imprisonment or death.
After an internal party meeting, the Opposition Congress announced it will raise issues of unemployment, price rise, and Chinese incursions across the border.“The government continues its silence on Chinese incursions and changes in the status quo on the Line of Actual Control, even as credible reports indicate increased deployment of Chinese troops and weaponry,” said a resolution passed by the Congress steering committee.
The party will also raise the issue of the differences between the judiciary and the government on the process of appointment of judges.“The premeditated attempt that is underway to de- legitimise the judiciary and orchestrate a confrontation between the executive and the judiciary is particularly alarming,” said party General-Secretary K C Venugopal.
The recent cyberattack on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences will also be raised by the party.Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in Kolkata that she will be travelling to Delhi and will hold a meeting of TMC Members of Parliament in both Houses on December 7 to finalise the list of issues the party wants to raise.
“I will be travelling to New Delhi on December 5,” Banerjee told reporters outside the West Bengal Assembly. “From Delhi, I will be visiting Ajmer Sharif dargah and Pushkar in Rajasthan,” she added.Two Bills that are eagerly awaited — legislation on data protection and the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill — are unlikely to be tabled in the winter session.
The public consultation on the data protection law is expected to end in the third week of December and sources said the time left in the winter session might not be sufficient to discuss the new law.The Electricity Act Bill that is envisaged as changing the way power is distributed in India is with a standing committee.
