Parliament Diary

The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill mainly raises the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, bringing it at par with the age for men. At the time of introduction, several Members insisted that stakeholders must be consulted before bringing the Bill to Parliament. Later, the Minister for Women and Child Development recommended that the Bill be referred to a Standing Committee. 

Before adjourning, the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance (Chair: Mr. Jayant Sinha). 

In Rajya Sabha, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was taken up for discussion. While supporting the government’s intention to remove duplicate IDs, Members raised concerns about possible disenfranchisement of voters. A Member pointed out that the use of Aadhaar for PDS and MGNREGA payments has led to a large number of exclusions, and that it was possible it could happen with linkage of Aadhaar and Voter IDs too.

Replying to the debate, the Law Minister highlighted that the provision for four qualifying dates in a year would allow for greater participation from youth. More than 1.5 crore people have to wait for an entire year to register in the electoral rolls, the Minister said. At present, a person who turns 18 after January 1 can enrol in the electoral roll only when the roll is prepared/ revised the next year. The Bill amends this to provide four qualifying dates in a calendar year, at the beginning of each quarter. The motion to refer the Bill to a Select Committee was negatived and the Bill was passed. 

The supplementary budget for the year 2021-22 was also discussed in Rajya Sabha and returned to Lok Sabha.

Earlier in the day, the Standing Committee on Agriculture presented its report on the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020. The Bill regulates pesticides in the country to ensure the availability of safe pesticides and minimise the risk to humans, animals, and environment.

Before the House adjourned, a Member was suspended for the remainder of the session for disorderly conduct.