Winter session of Parliament begins on Nov 18: Key Bills to be taken up

The winter session of the Parliament is beginning on November 18 and will undertake almost 35 legislations and will have 20 sittings. The session, which will end on December 13, will see a total of 20 sittings. Currently, there are 43 bills pending in Parliament. Of these, 12 Bills are listed for consideration and passing and seven are listed for withdrawal. Twenty-seven bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passing.

Bills listed for consideration and passage

• The National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019
• The National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill, 2019
• The National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019
• The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• Modifies the list of Scheduled Tribes in the state of Assam.
• The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019
• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019
• The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Dam Safety Bill, 2019
• The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 – To replace an Ordinance
• The Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019
• The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019
• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2019
• The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The National Police University Bill, 2019
• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Anti Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019
• The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019
• The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019
• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019
• The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2019
• The Central Sanskrit University Bill, 2019
• The Pesticides Management Bill, 2019
• The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019
• The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2019
• The National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill, 2019

Bills listed for withdrawal

• The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
• The International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019
• The Pesticides Management Bill, 2008
• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987
• The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011
• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013
• The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005

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As per news agency PTI, the Central government is likely to push for passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to amend The Citizenship Act, 1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India. Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the requirements for citizenship was that the applicant must have resided in India in the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years. Now the amendment relaxes the second requirement -- Afrom 11 years to six years.

The Personal Data Protection Bill deals with handling and processing of consumer data by corporate entities, while introducing restrictions and penalties. The proposals are based on a report submitted by Justice B.N. Srikrishna in July 2018. The draft Bill has gone through two updates based on inputs received from the industry.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19 this year by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot, and passed by the Lower House on August 5. The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as ''kinnar'' and ''hijra''. The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in any way, including education, employment, healthcare, right to reside among others.

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The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019, would replace an ordinance that was promulgated in September 2019. The Ordinance prohibits the manufacture, trade, and advertisement of e-cigarettes in India. Any person who contravenes these provisions will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to one lakh rupees, or both.

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Some of the other important bills to come up are: The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019, which amalgamates the Trade Unions Act, 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to replace an ordinance; The Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 -- to amend the Companies Act, 2013 to decriminalise certain offences and facilitate ease of doing business; the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 facilitating orderly development of the chit fund industry introduced in Lok Sabha in August 2019. The others are The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019, which repeals the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970, and sets up a National Commission to regulate the education and practice of Indian systems of Medicine. It was introduced on Jan 7, 2019 in Rajya Sabha. Also included are the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 prohibiting commercial surrogacy; the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019. It removes the president of the Indian National Congress as a trustee and empowers the central government to remove nominated members.

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