New Delhi: The government has listed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill as well as three other new draft laws for consideration in the Budget session of Parliament beginning Friday.
The joint committee of Parliament, which examined the amendment bill on Waqf on Thursday, submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, paving for the government to move amendments on the bill tabled last year. The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill was also introduced along with the Waqf amendment bill.
The bill proposing 44 changes to Waqf laws – the way Muslim charitable properties are managed in this country – was presented in Parliament in August last year. The bill triggered furious protests from the opposition as soon as it was tabled, and referred to a joint committee led by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal. The JPC – which held nearly three dozen sittings, but was rocked by chaos and protests from outnumbered opposition members, who said their concerns were being ignored – presented its report this week.
The House panel made 14 recommendations, all from members of the ruling BJP or its allies, while rejecting 44 made by opposition MPs, another source of acrimony between the two sides.
The government has also listed three new bills for the session — ‘The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, ‘Tribhuvan Sahkari University Bill’, and the ‘Immigration and Foreigners Bill’.
In total, 16 Bills have been prioritised for this session including the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to bring reforms in banking regulations, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aimed at modernising railway operations and governance.
