KEY BILLS & ORDINANCES LINED UP FOR MONSOON SESSION

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Fugitive Economic Offenders bill, 2018

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The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018

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The

Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018

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The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018

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The National Sports University Ordinance, 2018

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The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018:

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The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017:

DISMAL CONDUCT

SHRUNK SITTINGS

BILLS AND ORDINANCES AFFECTED

Source: PRS, News reports

The much anticipated monsoon session of Parliament begins today, July 18, 2018. Over the next 18 sessions, it is expected to take up a total of 68 pending bills. Of these, 25 bills are listed for consideration and passage, and three for withdrawal during the session. At least, 18 new bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passage. However, given the legislative track record of the 16th Lok Sabha, the Monsoon session could well turn out to be stormy and relegate important bills and ordinances to the sidelines again.: To prevent economic offenders from fleeing the country: To increase the punishment of those, including minors, convicted in rape cases: To enable courts to create a separate division to handle cases related to construction contracts and contracts for the provision of goods and services: To regulate homeopathic education and practice: To set up a National Sports University in ManipurTo recognise homebuyers as financial creditorsTo make all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void and illegalAn analysis of the data of the last 14 sessions of the current Lok Sabha shows that over 400 productive working hours were lost to constant disruptions and adjournments.The Budget session 2018 was the least productive of all sessions, with 127 hours and 45 minutes lost. Lok Sabha spent just 1% of its allotted time on legislative business and only 14 minutes on government bills.Ditto for the Upper house. It spend just 6% of its allotted time and giving only 3 minutes to government bills. A whopping 121 hours were lost to protests on issues such as special status for Andhra Pradesh, Cauvery waters, the PNB fraud and vandalisation of Dravidian icon Thanthai Periyar statue. Together, both houses lost 250 working hours in this one session alone.Over the years, the number of annual sittings of both houses of Parliament have reduced to nearly half. From 125-150 days during 1950s and 1960s, the number of sittings per session have dropped to 60-70 days in the past two decades.The most productive sessions ever were in 1956, when the Lok Sabha saw a record 151 days of sittings and the Rajya Sabha presided for a good 113 days. In 2002, to address the drop in sittings, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution recommended that Lok Sabha should have at least 120 sittings in a year, while Rajya Sabha should have 100 sittings. The current sittings are a far cry from this.The 16th Lok Sabha saw introduction of 180 bills. Though 166 were passed, frequent disruptions and interruptions meant that several important bills and ordinances remain pending. These include the likes of Lokpal, Land Acquisition, Protection of Whistleblowers, Protection of Transgender Persons’ Rights, Inter-state River Water Disputes, Triple Talaq, and the Fugitive Economic Offenders bill.