It was a short Monsoon season in Parliament, truncated by the Coronavirus. But when it rained, it poured and several bills were rammed through by the government. For the most part, the government neither allowed a debate nor closer scrutiny by committee. Here's a quick rundown of what happened.
17 bills introduced
MPs in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were only able to attend Parliament for 10 days, after a gap of 175 days. This gap was the longest ever, with the exception of years in which the general election was held. In this short period, 17 Bills were introduced and passed. Not a single Bill was referred to Committees. Neither were these Bills subject to much debate. The Lok Sabha discussed each Bill for an average of 1.5 hours. In the Rajya Sabha, the average was about one hour. In the last two days, the Upper House passed 13 Bills in 7.5 hours.
Still no Deputy Speaker
Parliament has functioned without a Deputy Speaker for a record 464 days. Usually, the post goes to a member of the Opposition. This is unusual and unprecedented and several MPs believe this is unconstitutional.
Bills passed
- The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
- The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
- The Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
- The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020
- The Bilateral Netting of Qualified Financial Contracts Bill, 2020
- The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020
- The Code On Social Security, 2020
- The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
- The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020
The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020