Parliament Diary

The first half of Budget Session, 2016 ended today. During the day Lok Sabha took up discussion on the situation arising out of recent terror attacks at Pathankot Airbase. Lok Sabha also took up discussion on the Mines and Mineral (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016. 

Rajya Sabha discussed and returned the Aadhaar Bill.

During the debate in Rajya Sabha, members moved amendments to several clauses regarding: enrolment under Aadhaar (clause 3), mandatory use of Aadhaar for government services and subsidies (clause 7), disclosing information in the interest of national security (clause 33) and allowing private persons to use Aadhaar (clause 57).  Members while pressing for amendments recommended that Aadhaar be made voluntary, disclosure of information should be permitted in the interest of public safety or public emergency (instead of national security), and the clause allowing private persons to use Aadhaar be deleted.  

Rajya Sabha then continued discussion on the General Budget.

At the time of sending this report both houses were sitting.  Lok Sabha was discussing the Mines Bill, while Rajya Sabha was discussing the General Budget.

Here is a legislative snapshot of the session until now.

Bills passed by Parliament:

1.       The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016

2.       The High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015, passed by Lok Sabha in earlier session

3.       The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015, passed by Lok Sabha in earlier session

4.       The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015, passed by Lok Sabha in earlier session

5.       The National Waterways Bill, 2015, passed by Lok Sabha in earlier session

6.       The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016

Bill passed by Lok Sabha

1.       The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016

2.       The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

3.       The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016

Bill passed by Rajya Sabha:

The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Bills introduced this session:

1.       The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016

2.       The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016

3.       The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016

4.       The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016

5.       The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016

6.       The Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016

7.       The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016

Productivity and discussions: 

During this session, Lok Sabha has functioned for 120% of its scheduled time while Rajya Sabha has functioned for 97% of its scheduled time.

Question Hour in Lok Sabha has worked for 87% of the scheduled time, while in Rajya Sabha it has worked for 85% of its scheduled time.

Both the houses during the session discussed a number of important issues. Apart from general discussions on the Union Budget, Railway Budget and Motion of Thanks, debates on recent incidents in institutions of higher education like Jawaharlal Nehru University and Hyderabad University, Aircel-Maxis scam, prevailing agrarian crisis in the country and situation arising out of recent terror attacks at Pathankot Airbase were taken up in both the houses.

Members also called the attention Ministers on issues such as complete breakdown of law and order in Delhi, inflammatory speeches made by a Minister in the Union Government and elected representatives violating the Constitution, and oath of office and alleged alteration of affidavit relating to Ishrat Jahan case.

All data is updated as of yesterday.