Parliament Diary

Four bills were introduced in Lok Sabha.These were:

• The Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Amendment Bill: It empowers the Municipal corporation of Chandigarh to levy taxes on entertainments and amusements in light of GST.
• The Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Bill: It extends the provisions of the Constitution (121^st Amendment) Act, 2016 to the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
• The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill: Introduces summary eviction procedures for the purpose of eviction of unauthorised occupants from government accommodation.

Lok Sabha took up discussion on the situation arising out of reported incidents of atrocities and lynching in mob violence in the country. Members during the debate condemned the acts of brutality and urged that strict action must be taken against the attackers. Across political parties, members urged that the House pass a resolution condemning these acts and that action must be taken for mob violence incidents within 24 hours. The Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Kiren Rijiju replied on the debate.

Rajya Sabha discussed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-third Amendment) Bill and the National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill. The Bills seek to grant the National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status, at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Members participating debate raised some concerns with regard to the Bills. Some members pointed out that the advice of the NCBC on inclusion and exclusion of castes from the list of backward classes should be binding on the government. Members also expressed their concern about the Bill encroaching upon the states’ role of identifying the backward classes. For example, it allows the President to specify the backward classes for a state in consultation with the Governor of the state. Some members recommended that it must be mandatory for the President to obtain the Governor’s consent in such cases.  Some of these issues were also discussed when the committee was looking at the Constitutional Amendment Bill.