HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE MONSOON SESSION 2019
This Monsoon Session that was the first one after the general elections for the 17th Lok Sabha was referred to as the most productive since 2000. The session commenced on the 17th of June and extended till the 7th of August, 2019. The party in power decided to promulgate various important bills and Amendments that would be helpful in the smooth functioning of the country. The Narendra Modi- led Government tried to be at their best for showcasing equality in their decisions of planning to pass all bills and Amendments only so, they do not ignite any resentful actions among citizens.The parliament passed some major bills and amendments that made this session a victorious one. Both the Houses witnessed full cooperation from oppositions, this helped in fastening the procedure of the parliament and creating moments that would go down in history.
The highlights of all the key legislative actions observed in this Monsoon Session are given below:
- Bill to Bifurcate J&K into two Union Territories-Ladakh and J&K
The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganization) Bill, 2019 was passes by the Lok Sabha on the 6th of August and by the Rajya Sabha on the of August, 2019. The Presidential assent to legislation for bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh was also given on 9th of August, 2019. A home ministry notificationstated that the Central Government has appointed the 31st day of October 2019 as the day devoted for the purpose of the said Act. A Lieutenant Governor will also be appointed by the president under Article 239 of the Constitution, who will have all the administrative powers. This bill will also repeal 153 state laws and includes a schedule of 106 central laws which will be applicable to the Union Territories. In addition to this there will also be 166 state laws remaining in force but 7 other laws will be applicable with amendments. - Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019
This bill extends the benefits to the residents living along the International border (IB) and not just to people living along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), it proves to be worthwhile for residents of Jammu, Kathua and Samba.
Through this bill, the centre has also provided 10% quota to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) by defining those having an annual income less than Rs. 8 lakhs as economically weak. - Right to Information (Amendment)Act, 2005
This bill was passed by the Parliament on 25th of July, 2019 for amending the salaries, term and the conditions of service of the RTI (Right to Information) commissioners as may be prescribed by the Central Government. It aims at striking down the idea of placing the statutory body of Information Commission and the Election Commission at the same pedestal. - Amendments to POCSO Act
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Parliament on the 1st of August, 2019 for amending existing laws and providing strict punishments against sexual offenders. Any sexual offence committed by a relative of the child, public servant, police officer or anybody having superior authority will be subjected to a maximum punishment of twenty years as opposed to the current punishment of ten years. Though, the maximum punishment would be death penalty. Any sexual offender other than the above-mentioned ones will be subjected to ten years from the current seven years of minimum punishment. - Consumer Protection Act
Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution tabled this new bill for strengthening the Consumer Rights that would help consumers in tackling the modern challenges of class actions, product liability, misleading advertisements or even liability for celebrity endorsements etc., the bill also recognizes the need of a national level regulator and other new developments- tele- marketing, direct selling, the functioning of E- commerce platforms etc. - Code on wages for workers
This code is an optimistic endeavour of regulating wages of employees working in any industry, be it trade, commerce or the manufacturing, it was passed on the 2nd of August, 2019. Also, this code differentiated in the responsibilities of the State and Central government; the state government will address wage-related situations pertaining to the mines, oil fields, railways etc., rest all the decisions of all other employments will be looked after by the state government. - The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019
This bill was passed on the 5th of August, 2019 by Lok Sabha for increasing the number of judges from 30 to 33, excluding the Chief Justice of India because the reason of delayed delivery of justice is very well because of the complexity and pendency of cases as there is an inadequate strength of judges. - Bill for Summary Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants fromPublic Premises
This bill introduced on 6th of august, 2019 to evict public servants and other government dignitaries who were no more in office or had expired license and were staying in “public premises” without proper authorization by following a proper procedure. - UAPA Amendment Bill
This bill- The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 was finally passed on 2nd August, 2019 by the Rajya Sabha after the Lok Sabha’s approval on 24th of July, 2019. This bill amended the existing Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, on the basis of its clauses associated with the investigation or offences relating to terrorism. The Centre on its discretion can declare a terrorist organization as the same if the organization commits, participates, prepares, promotes or is in any way involved in a terrorist act. - National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill
This bill replaced the Medical Council of India with the National Medical Commission and was passed on the 1st of August, 2019 after the Lok Sabha’s approval on the 29th of July, 2019. This bill tackles the issue faced by rural areas because the number of doctors available in their immediate vicinity is small, also it introduces the National Exit Test for bringing a level of uniformity and gives NMC the power to determine fees in 50% of seats when it comes to the seats of private medical colleges. - Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019
Lok Sabha passed this bill on 1st of August, 2019 and Rajya Sabha did the same on 29th of July, 2019. This bill aims at creating some clarity regarding the preference of secured financial creditors over operational creditors when the question is about distribution of assets of any corporate debtor which was necessitated in the recent judgement of NCLAT in Essar Steel Case, where operational creditors and lenders were given equal status. Also, through this bill the time period of completing the insolvency resolution process has been increased from 270 days to 330 days. - The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2013
This bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 26th of July, 2019 and by the Rajya Sabha on 30th of July, 2019. This bill aims at ensuring accountability and better implementation of all governmental norms in the corporate sector for promoting easy and smooth functioning of businesses. - Bill to penalize the Triple Talaq
This is the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, passed by Lok Sabha on the 25th of July, 2019 and by the Rajya Sabha on 30th Of July, 2019. This bill declares all provisions pertaining to instant triple talaq or “talaq-e-biddat” in written or electronic form, will be held as a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding to three years with a fine as it is unconstitutional and derogatory towards Muslim women.
14 Amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988
The aforementioned act was passed by the parliament on 23rd of July, 2019 only to modify policies related to road and transport, safety and licensing and the other registration processes. The compensation for victims of road accidents has also been modified and upgraded to be Rs. 50,000/- in case of any bodily injury and Rs. 2 lakhs in case of death. This act also specifies the purpose of the newly introduced Motor Vehicle Accident Fund collected by a special tax.
15 Bill to expand powers of The National Investigation Agency (NIA)
This National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019, aims at expanding the powers and the jurisdiction of the NIA with respect to all the cases that they work on. This bill also introduces the need for Special Courts for the trail of any particular offences.
16 Aadhar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill
Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union Law Minister introduced the idea of this bill which got a clearance from the Lok Sabha on 4th July, 2019 and from Rajya Sabha on 8th July, 2019, to only introduce offline verification of Aadhar Card. By virtue of this bill anybody can use their Aadhar Card number for establishing and identity for telecom or KYC purposes.
17 The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019
The Lok Sabha passed this legislation on the 5th of August, 2019, this bill prohibits commercial surrogacy and includes regulation of altruistic and proved infertility surrogacy. This bill also introduces the National and State Surrogacy Boards and mentions the eligibility criteria and the specific procedure of conducting the surrogacy for regulating its process.
18 Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019
The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Parliament on 27th of June, 2019 only to amend the existing Special Economic Act, 2005. This bill aimed at adding a trust or any other entity which may be referred to as ‘person’ by the government to seek any establishment in the Special Economic Zones.
19 Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teacher’s Cadre) Bill, 2019
This bill got a clearance from the Lok Sabha on 1st of July, 2019 and from Rajya Sabha on 3rd of July, 2019. This bill aims at providing reservations to candidates applying for teaching posts according to their economic background and not subject- wise. Any candidate belonging to an economically weaker or an educationally and socially backward section deserves their right of reservation provided to them through this bill.
In conclusion, the Monsoon Session of the Parliament was a success not only because it implemented some astounding legislations but also because it amended the alreadyexisting ones. Every decision that the Government takes has twofold consequences.Weare the citizens of one of the biggest democratic country and naturally everybody has a different viewpointand they are allentitled to them, but sometimes, if you think the country isgoing downhill or being degraded, remember that for experiencing acceleration, it is necessary to take a step back.
SUBMITTED BY-
ARPITA VARMA
STUDENT REPORTER, INBA