Parliament Annual Round-Up 2021

While productivity in Parliament this year remained low, both Houses nevertheless managed to pass a handful of important Bill this year. While some Bills witnessed intense deliberation and discussion, some were passed within minutes of their introduction in both the Houses. BUDGET SESSION The Budget Session for this year was divided into two phases with a recess from February 16, 2021 to March 7, 2021. The Lok Sabha passed 18 bills and the Rajya Sabha passed 19 bills. A total of 13 new bills had been introduced, of which none was referred to a Parliamentary Committee. Some of the important bills passed by both the houses during the Budget Session are: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 The Lok Sabha passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill in 2020 and the Rajya Sabha passed it during this year's budget session. The bill sought to enhance the reproductive rights of women and increase the upper gestation limit by permitting abortion in cases exceeding 20 weeks as well. Section 3 of the MTP Act is amended to extend the upper limit of medical termination of pregnancy. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2021 This Bill aims at strengthening the research and development standards in medical education, regulate the systematic standard and promote the adoption of technology in the medical sector on a large scale. It was earlier referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee for review, which made certain recommendations. A new bill incorporating the recommendations made by the panel was introduced and passed by the parliament during the Budget Session. The amendment clubs 56 categories of allied healthcare professions such as Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Ophthalmic Sciences, Nutrition Sciences, Trauma, Burn Care Surgical/ Anaesthesia-related Technology, etc., into 10 categories. The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 The Bill was passed during this year's budget session to replace an ordinance issued on November 4, 2020. It aims at providing all stakeholders of an opportunity to seek unconditional stay on enforcement of arbitral awards in cases of the agreement or contract being induced by fraud or corruption. It also seeks to specify by regulations, the qualifications, experience and norms for accreditation of arbitrators. The Mines and Minerals (Developments and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed by both houses during the Budget Session. The Amendment focuses on the furtherance of increasing employment and investment opportunities in the mining sector including coal. It would also increase the state revenue and eliminate differential treatment between capital and merchant mines. Removal of restriction on end-use of mineral is permitted by virtue of this amendment, in addition to allowing private companies to enter mining exploration and enabling captive mines to sell up to 50% of their annual mineral production in open markets. The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021 The Bill seeks to increase the cap for foreign direct investment in the insurance sector from 49% to 74%. It was also pointed out that the earlier increase from 26% to 49% saw inflows of more than ₹26,000 crore in this sector as close to 28 insurance companies could access foreign investment with this increase. The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021 The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021 aims at establishing the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development as the principal development financial institution for infrastructure financing. The opposition expressed the need for sending it to a select committee as it lacked external surveillance however the finance minister claimed that the bill provides for all the required safeguards and the audited report would be brought before the parliament every year. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which seeks to enable the Government to depute IAS, IPS officers, etc. from other Union Territories to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir was also passed by the Parliament during this year's Budget Session. MONSOON SESSION The Monsoon session of the Parliament for this year was scheduled to concluded on August 13, 2021 however it ended two days earlier, on August 11, 2021. Despite productivity being low at 28% for Rajya Sabha and 22% for the Lok Sabha, the Parliament passed the following important bills: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 This bill extends the power of issuing adoption orders to district and additional district magistrates. In addition to these certain undefined crimes which earlier had no minimum...

Parliament Annual Round-Up 2021

Sneha Rao

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