Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will go on recess for a month after the first part of the Budget session ends on Monday. Post recess, both Houses will reassemble on March 13, and the session is likely to continue till April 6.
The Budget session began on January 31 with an address by the President to both Houses followed by the laying of the Economic Survey. The next day, the Union Budget was presented and the Finance Bill 2023 was introduced.
This is the only Bill introduced during the first part of the session. Also barring one Bill listed for consideration and passage and private member Bills, no legislative business took place during the first part of the Budget session.
Both houses continuously went for adjournment as Oppositions insisted on setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the Adani-Hindenburg controversy. However, the government did not respond to that demand.
Meanwhile, the House did pass a motion to thanks to the President. Also, both Houses debated the General Budget with concluding remarks by the Finance Minister.
Recommendations to be provided soon
Now, during the recess, 24 Department-related Standing Committees will look into allocation for various Central Ministries and Departments, and share their recommendations with the Parliament during the second session.
At the same time, Standing Committee on Finance will have extra work as it has to discuss Finance Bill too apart from expenditure provisions of Ministries such as Finance and Corporate Affairs.
It may be noted that members of the Committees do not have to follow party whips in sharing their views. Also, recommendations given by the Standing Committees are not binding upon the government.
Post recess, apart from the Finance Bill and Demands for Grants for 2023-24, the Parliament is expected to take up 18 bills for introduction, consideration and passing.
Among these, some important bills are:
- The Development of Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023: It seeks to replace and repeal Special Economic Zones Act and to frame Rules.
- The Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2023: It aims to incorporate certain aspects of the Madrid Registration System, i.e. transformation and replacement which is needed to make our processing at par with the Madrid System. Besides this, some other amendments in procedure regarding show cause, hearing, opposition hearing, incorporation of electronic communication by TM Office, etc. are being proposed to speed up the processing of TM application.
- The Registration of Birth and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2023: It intends to accommodate progressive changes in society during the last five decades, making the registration process people-friendly and updating other databases at the National and State-levels using databases for registered births and deaths.
- The Trafficking of Persons (Protection, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2023: The Bill seeks to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, especially women, and children, to provide for the care, protection, assistance, and rehabilitation of the victims, while respecting their rights, and creating a supportive legal, economic and social environment for them, and also to ensure prosecution of offenders.
- The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022: It seeks to amend the Competition Act, 2022, to regulate mergers and acquisitions based on the value of transactions, expand the scope of entities that can be adjudged part of anti-competitive agreements, and decriminalises certain offences under the Act.