The Parliament will take up the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 during the nearly-month long winter session which commences on Monday.
The Citizenship Bill, a key BJP plank, aims at granting citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
The session, which will go on till December 13, will provide a total of 20 sittings spread over a period of 26 days including four Private Members' days.
Other key bills such as Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, Anti Maritime Piracy Bill 2019 and Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 are among the 47 items expected to be taken up during the House proceedings.
The Personal Data Protection Bill is about handling and processing of consumer information by corporate organisations and introducing strict regulations and penalties.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, that was passed in the Lok Sabha in July, seeks to prohibit discrimination against transgender persons, including in matters of employment and provides for giving certificates of identity to them.
The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019 is also expected to come up in the House and would replace an ordinance that was approved by the Cabinet in September.
The ordinance prohibits the manufacture, trade, and advertisement of e-cigarettes in India.
The ban includes e-hookahs and online sale and advertisement of e-cigarettes. Violations are a cognisable offence punishable with an imprisonment of up to one year or fine up to Rs 1 lakh or both for the first offence and imprisonment of up to three years and fine up to Rs 5 lakh for a subsequent offence.
Other important bills to come up during the winter session of Parliament are -- The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019, The Companies (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Arms Act (Amendment) Bill 2019, Central Sanskrit University Bill 2019, Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill 2019, Disaster Management (First Amendment) Bill 2019, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2019 and Arms Act (Amendment Bill) 2019.
Apart from these bills, the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019, will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha in July, seeks to remove the Congress president as a permanent trustee and gives the central government more powers to remove nominated members.
Other Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha are -- The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha, The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment), Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha, The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha, The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill. 2019, The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NC1M) Bill, 2019, The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2019 and The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019.
In the Lok Sabha, there are two pending Bills -- The National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha and The Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The Bills for withdrawal in the Upper House include The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987, The Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005, The Pesticides Management Bill, 2008, The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011, The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013, The International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Meanwhile, all-party meetings were convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi over the weekend ahead of the winter session.
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