A five-day session of Parliament is set to begin Monday, September 18, 2023, amid intense buzz on whether the government will have some surprise in store. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said a total of eight bills have been listed for consideration and passage during the session.
At all-party meet, floor leaders were informed that a bill on the welfare of senior citizens and three related to SC/ST order have been added to the agenda. The bills listed earlier include the one on the appointment of chief election commissioner and election commissioners.
During the last Monsoon session, the bill related the chief election commissioner and two election commissioners were introduced in Rajya Sabha. The bill had drawn protests from the Opposition as it seeks to put their service conditions on par with the cabinet secretary and not with a Supreme Court judge, as is the case now. This is being seen as a downgrade in their stature.
Though there is no official word on any probable new legislation, there has been a buzz that a bill to ensure quota for women in elected legislatures like Lok Sabha and state assemblies may be presented, as Prime Minster Narendra Modi has often highlighted, including in the recent G20 Summit, the growing role of women in different fields in the country.
Asked about the government’s stand on the demands by various parties to bring the women’s reservation bill in the five-day session, Joshi said the government will take “an appropriate decision at an appropriate time”.
In the last few weeks, several parties, including the BJD and the BRS, have demanded reviving the bill, while the Congress also passed a resolution for it at its Hyderabad Congress Working Committee meeting on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the national flag at the new Parliament building on Sunday morning. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Joshi said that after a ceremony at the Central Hall of the existing building, the session will move to the new building.
According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the function will commemorate the rich legacy of the Parliament of India and resolve to make Bharat a developed nation by 2047.
The government’s legislative business will commence from September 20 in the new building. All members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been called for a group photograph on Tuesday morning.
The catering will also shift to the new building on September 19, the officials said.
Recently, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had given vent to the sense in the opposition about the session, saying the government could be having some “legislative grenades” up its sleeve.
Commenting on the listed agenda, he had said it “is much ado about nothing” and all this could have waited till the Winter session in November.
Various departments of parliamentary staff are all set to don new uniforms in a signal from the government that the shift to the new building is likely to be marked with a fresh start in more ways than one.
The new dress code with floral motif for a section of staff has already kicked up a political row, with the Congress dubbing it as a “cheap” tactic to promote the ruling party’s poll symbol – the lotus flower.
On August 31, Joshi, while announcing the “special session” of Parliament for five days from September 18, did not spell out any specific agenda for it. “Amid Amrit Kaal, looking forward to having fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament,” Joshi had posted on X.
