Amid the raging political debate over the imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand and the judicial pronouncements, the Centre is set to push its important Bills relating to Finance, Railways Appropriation, Goods and Services Tax, Factories, Afforestation Fund, and Enemy Property in the coming Parliament Session beginning on Monday.
The Session that will last till May 13 would also discuss Demands for Grants and working of 11 ministries — six in the lok Sabha and five in the Rajya Sabha.
Financial business constitutes the main agenda of the Government in this Session of Parliament. According to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, the lok Sabha will take up discussion on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Railways and the related Appropriation Bill for 2016-17 on April 26. This will be followed by discussion on Demands for Grants of the Ministries of Development of North-Eastern Region, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Social Justice and Empowerment and Civil Aviation.
The Rajya Sabha will discuss working of the Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Human Resource Development, Finance, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and External Affairs.
Thereafter, Finance Bill, 2016 and application of Guillotine will be taken up. Other legislative agenda in the lok Sabha include Consideration and Passing of the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as passed by the Rajya Sabha,
Consideration and Passing of the Regional Centre for Bio-technology Bill,2016, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Electricity Amendment Bill, 2014, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015, Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015, and lokpal and lok Ayuktas and other related laws (Amendment) Bill. In all these cases, standing committees have submitted their respective reports.
The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill,2016, as passed by the lok Sabha and referred to Select Committee of the House and the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill,2015, as passed by the lok Sabha, will also be part of the agenda of the coming Session.
During the last Session of Parliament from February 23 and March 16, both the Houses had 16 sittings wherein 11 Bills were introduced in the lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha. The lower House passed nine Bills while the Upper House cleared 11 Bills. Ten Bills were passed by both the Houses, including the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2016 and the Election laws (Amendment).
Ahead of the Parliament Session, lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has called an all-party meeting on Sunday to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament so that the Session remains as much productive as the last Session.
But then, the invoking of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand and issuing of Ordinance by the Central Government is to come under attack from the Congress. Upping the ante on the Uttarakhand political crisis, Congress leaders have given notices for suspension of the question hour and adoption of a resolution condemning the imposition of President’s Rule in the Hill State.
BJP is “ready to discuss” all issues relating to imposition of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand, where it says, the “democracy is stifled”.