Monsoon session to be Bill-heavy

But Broadcast Bill not to be presented this session.

The monsoon session of Parliament will see a plethora of Bills being introduced and cleared in both the Houses, not least being the Office of Profit Bill and the Central Education Institutions Reservation of Seats and Regulation of Admission Bill.

The reservation Bill has been added after much pressure from the UPA allies including the Left, despite the fact that the Oversight Committee headed by Veerappa Moily is yet to submit its report.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said that the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) and Financial Institution Undertaking Bill would also come up for clearing. The Bill envisages the whole-time directors being increased from two to four and making government shares transferable.

"The Broadcast Bill will not be presented during this session. I will be inviting industry representatives to meet and discuss the Bill in the coming weeks before any decision is taken," Dasmunsi, who is also the Information and Broadcasting Minister, said. "In any case, the Bill has not come up before the Cabinet too," he added.

The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill will also be presented at the monsoon session, along with the Sikkim and Tripura University Bill, the Constitution (Scheduled Caste list) Orders Bill, and the Constitution (Scheduled tribe list) Orders Bill.

The Jalianwala Bagh Memorial Bill on the constitution of a board of maintenance for the memorial will also be introduced.

Among the Bills already introduced but which have to be cleared are The Sexual Harassment of Women (Prevention, Prohibition and Control) Bill, the Child Rights Amendment Bill, the Human Rights Bill, the Tribal Rights Bill and the Juvenile Justice Bill.

The Tribal Rights Bill still has a question mark hanging over it, as the Left and the rest of the UPA are on opposite sides over some of the provisions of the Bill. The matter was discussed at the UPA-Left coordination meeting on Saturday. Dasmunsi said that the passage of the Bill was subject to agreement by the Left.