Parliament Diary

Today's discussion in Rajya Sabha was related to Jammu and Kashmir. 

The government tabled a Presidential Order that superseded the Constitution (Application to J&K) Order, 1954. One of the provisions was to amend and substitute "Constituent Assembly of the State" with "Legislative Assembly of the State" in Article 370(3), which requires the recommendation of that body before any modifications or exceptions are made to Article 370. 

Two resolutions were introduced and passed in Rajya Sabha. 

First, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is being substituted by a clause that states that all provisions of the Constitution of India will apply to Jammu and Kashmir. 

The second resolution is on the President's reference of the Jammu nd Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 to Parliament for its views. Note that, under Article 3 of the Constitution, any State Reorganisation Bill has to be referred by the President to the Assembly of that State for its views, Since Jammu and Kashmir is under the President's rule, the Bill has been referred to Parliament. 

Two Bills were introduced and passed by Rajya Sabha today. These include: 

• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019: The Bill reorganizes the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories - Union Territory of Ladakh and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019: This Bill extends the 10% EWS reservation to Jammu and Kashmir. 

In Lok Sabha today, two Bills were introduced. These include the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019. 

Further, the National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 were discussed and passed by Lok Sabha today with amendments made by Rajya Sabha to the two Bills. 

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 was passed by Lok Sabha. Under the provisions of the Bill: 

• A transgender person is defined  as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth
• A person recognised as transgender person under the Bill shall have a right to self-perceived gender identity
• A transgender person has to obtain a Certificate of Identity which will confer rights and be proof of recognition of identity as a transgender person
• An application for obtaining such a Certificate should be made to the District Magistrate (DM), in the form and manner, as may be prescribed    

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 was passed by Lok Sabha. 

Some key provisions of the Bill are: 

• The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy, and allows altruistic surrogacy  
• The Bill outlines purposes for which surrogacy is permitted
• The intending couple should have a ‘certificate of essentiality’ and a ‘certificate of eligibility’ issued by the appropriate authority