Shah to move Bills on J-K in RS, discussion on economic situation to go on

As the Parliament convenes on Day 4 of the ongoing Winter Session on Thursday Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move the two bills the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage.

The two bills were earlier passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The House saw a marathon debate over two days and passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill,2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill,2023.

"The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation(Amendment) Bill, 2023, Amit Shah to move the Bill further to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, as passed by Lok Sabha, be taken into consideration. Also to move that the Bill be passed," the Legislative agenda released by the Rajya Sabha read.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26, 2023. It amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004.

The Act provides for reservation in jobs and admission in professional institutions to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The Act amended the Second Schedule of the 1950 Act to specify the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. The proposed Bill increases the total number of assembly seats and reserves seven seats for Scheduled Castes and nine seats for Scheduled Tribes.

Meanwhile, a short-duration discussion on the "Economic Situation in the country will continue on day 4 of the Rajya Sabha.

"Further discussion on the "Economic Situation in the country" raised by Derek O' Brien on 5th December 2023," the legislative agenda read.

Earlier during a short-duration discussion on the 'Economic situation in the country' in Rajya Sabha, Congress MP and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said, "If India is growing at the fastest rate in the world, then why is the impact of the growth not felt on the ground? We are a large economy, we are growing at the fastest rate in the world & we have the largest FDI coming in, but why is it not seen on the ground? I specifically want to ask why is it not seen in the inflation and unemployment numbers?"

Taking part in the debate, the BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi weighed in on India's growth rate on the state of the national economy amid the prevailing global challenges in the Rajya Sabha in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament and said that the country's robust GDP numbers reflect the "growth rate of Hindutva".

In a veiled dig at the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre, Trivedi said the Indian economy was striving to go beyond 2 per cent, which was jokingly labelled as the "Hindu rate of growth".

Also, BJP MPs Anil Jain and Neeraj Shekhar are likely to present the 249th and 250th reports (in English and Hindi) of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha, agenda said.

The Winter Session began on December 4 and will culminate on December 22.