 "Special session of the Parliament day 3: What's on the agenda today?")
The Parliament will gather to hold discussions on the third day of the special session on Wednesday. At 11 am, the Lok Sabha will likely discuss the women's reservation bill, which has been pending for the last 27 years for want of consensus among parties.
Parliament special session: Which bills are to be discussed today?
The Lok Sabha is expected to debate and discuss two bills on Wednesday. The first is the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, also known as the Women's Reservation Bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha, and named it the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. The bill has proposed one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and that the reservation would continue for a period of 15 years, and there will be a quota for SC/STs within the reserved seats for women.
With several parties pushing for women's reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the bill is likely to see a smooth passage this time, unlike the earlier instances when several regional parties opposed it.
However, its implementation may still take some time and is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed.
Second, the lower house is expected to discuss the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023. It was introduced in Rajya Sabha on August 1, 2023. It aims to amend the Advocates Act, 1961. The Bill repeals certain sections related to touts under the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879. The 1961 Act consolidates the law related to legal practitioners and constitutes Bar Councils and the All-India Bar. Rajya Sabha has already passed the bill.
In Rajya Sabha, two bills which are expected to be discussed are the Post Office Bill, 2023, and the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022.
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The Post Office Bill, 2023, aims to replace the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. The act currently regulates India Post, a departmental undertaking of the central government.
In the bill, the Centre aims to get an exclusive privilege over conveying letters. The services will be provided by India Post. The Director General of Postal Services will be appointed to head India Post.
The DG will have powers to make regulations on various matters, including tariffs for services and supply of postage stamps. Moreover, the Centre may also be allowed to intercept an article transmitted through India Post on specified grounds, including security of the state and public order.
The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19, 2022. It seeks to repeal 65 laws that are obsolete or that have been made redundant by other laws. It also corrects a drafting error in the Factoring Regulation Act, 2011.
Special session: What has happened so far
On Tuesday, the Parliament moved into a swanky new complex on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging members of the Parliament (MPs) to forget all past bitterness and start a new chapter and the introduction of the women's reservation bill taking centre stage.
Bidding goodbye to the adjacent colonial-era Parliament building, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met for the first time in the new home on the second day of the five-day special session.
Also Read: Congress never serious about women's reservation or their empowerment: BJP
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Later, the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla issued an official notification on Tuesday specifying that the old Parliament building will now be known as "Samvidhan Sadan" as the sitting members have now shifted to a new complex.
"Lok Sabha Speaker is pleased to notify the building previously known as Parliament House as the Samvidhan Sadan," read the notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Tuesday. The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech in the Central Hall, referred to the presiding officers of the two Houses and suggested that the old Parliament building be renamed "Samvidhan Sadan".