Demands for Grants and working of 11 ministries to be discussed ; six in Lok Sabha and 5 in Rajya Sabha

Finance Bill, Railways Appropriation Bill, Uttarakhand Ordinances, GST Bill, Factories Bill,

Afforestation Fund Bill, Enemy Property Bill on the agenda

Parliament session will begin from Monday i.e April 25,2016 to address the financial business related to the General and Railway Budgets for the financial year 2016-17 and is scheduled to last till May 13,2016 subject to the exigencies of the Government’s Business.  The ensuing session of the Lower House  will be the 8^th Session of the 16^th  and that of the Upper House the 239^th Session of Rajya Sabha since the previous sessions of the Parliament were prorogued in March this year, after both the Houses were adjourned on March 16 for meetings of Department Related Standing Committtees.

Financial business including discussion on demands for grants of various ministries in Lok Sabha and working of some ministries in Rajya Sabha,  consideration and passing of the Railways Appropriation Bill, 2016 and Finance Bill, 2016 constitutes the main agenda of this session of Parliament.

Lok Sabha will take up discussion on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Railways and the related Appropriation Bill for 2016-17 on April 26. This will be followed by discussion on Demands for Grants of the Ministries of Development of North-Eastern Region, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Social Justice and Empowerment and Civil Aviation.

Rajya Sabha will discuss working of the Ministries of Health & Family Welfare, Human Resource Development, Finance, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and External Affairs. Thereafter, Finance Bill,2016 and application of Guillotine will be taken up.

Other Legislative agenda likely  to be taken up in Lok Sabha include:

1. Consideration and Passing of the Sikh Gurudwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 as passed by Rajya Sabha (listed for April 25);

2. Consideration and Passing of the Regional Centre for Bio-technology Bill,2016 (listed for April 25);

3. The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014 (Standing Committee submitted its Report);

4. The Electricity Amendment Bill, 2014 (Standing Committee submitted its Report);

5. The Lok Pal and Lok Ayuktas and other related laws (Amendment) Bill,2014 (Standing Committee submitted its report);

6. The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2015 (Standing Committee submitted its Report);

7. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill,2015 (Standing Committee submitted its Report);

8. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 (Standing Committee submitted its Report);

9. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,2015 (Report of Joint Committee awaited);

10. The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 (Report of Standing Committee awaited);

11. The Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 (Report of the Standing Committee awaited);

12. The Companies (Amendment) Bill,2016 (Report of the Standing Committee awaited); and

13. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Bill, 2015 (Report of Joint Committee awaited).

Legislative business likely to be taken up in  Rajya Sabha include;

1. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill,2016 as passed by Lok Sabha;

2. The Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill,2016 as passed by Lok Sabha;

3. The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill,2016 as passed by Lok Sabha;

4. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill,2016 as passed by Lok Sabha;

(The above four Bills listed for April 25)

5. The Constitution (One twenty second) Amendment Bill relating to introduction of GSG as passed by Lok Sabha and reported by the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha;

6. The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill,2016 as passed by Lok Sabha and referred to Select Committee of the House;

7. The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill,2015 as passed by Lok Sabha;

8. The Indian Trusts (Amendment) Bill,2015 as passed by Lok Sabha;

9. The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill,2015 as passed by Lok Sabha;

10. The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987 as reported by Joint Committee; and

11. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015 as passed by Lok Sabha and referred to Joint Committee.

During the 15 sittings of the session starting on April 25,2016, besides ratification of Presidential Proclamation in Uttarkhand under Article 356 of the Constitution, two Ordinances viz., The Uttarakhand Appropriation (Vote on Account) Ordinance,2016 and The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Second Ordinance, 2016 are also on the agenda.

During the last session of Parliament between February 23 and March 16,2016, both the Houses had 16 sittings during when 11 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha. The Lower House passed 9 Bills while the Upper House cleared 11 Bills. Ten Bills were passed by both the Houses including  the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill,2016 and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill,2016.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha took up short duration discussion on the incidents in Jawaharlal Nehru University and  Hyderabad Central  University during the last session. Lok Sabha held similar discussion on money laundering including Aircel and Maxis and the terrorist attack in Pathankot while Rajya Sabha discussed agrarian crisis prevailing at that time.

Lok Sabha discussed Calling Attention Motion on affidavit relating to Ishrat Jehan case while in Rajay Sabha , inflammatory speech by a union minister was discussed under the same provision.

Finance Bill debate and appropriation measures scheduled, prompting consideration of demands for grants and multiple legislative amendments. Parliament convenes from April 25 to May 13, 2016 to complete financial business, prioritising consideration and passage of the Finance Bill, 2016 and the Railways Appropriation Bill, 2016, along with debates on Demands for Grants in Lok Sabha and examination of ministry workings in Rajya Sabha; the legislative programme lists multiple bills pending committee reports or transmission between Houses, and the agenda includes ratification of a Presidential Proclamation and two ordinances.