The week began on a productive note in Lok Sabha. Negotiable Instrument Amendment Bill to deal with cheque bounce cases was passed by the House. The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill was also passed in the lower house. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, and The National Sports University Bill 2018 were introduced.
The first day of the week saw several bills being introduced and even being passed in the Lok sabha. TDP Members raised placards demanding a special status for Andhra Pradesh but gradually things proceeded smoothly.
The National Sports University Bill 2018 was introduced before the zero hour began. Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore introduced the bill. The bill envisages world class high techniques in sports and specialised sports university in Manipur to promote various aspects of sports such as management, technology and coaching.
But before this, he withdrew the Sports University Bill 2017 which was introduced on 10th August 2017 in the Lok Sabha but could not be passed as the parliament was not in session, it necessitated making a law and therefore on 31st May 2018, the President issued an ordinance on it.
Minister for State for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh introduced the MSME Development Amendment Bill 2018. The classification of industries in the bill has been updated.
Monday also saw the introduction of Insolvency and Bankcruptcy Code Amendment bill tpo replace the Ordinance of 6th June 2018. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that the loans given during the UPA regime turned out to be bad loans.
The Negotiable Instruments bill which was passed by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha in the afternoon. It will provide relief to the recipient of a bounced cheque. The bill makes it compulsory for the accused to deposit 20 percent of the amount of the bounced cheque in the court. If the accused is held guilty in the lower court and he approaches the higher court then he needs to deposit 20 percent of the amount again.
The NCTE (Amendment) Bill which proposes induction process for newly-appointed college teachers was discussed and passed. Brisk business is expected to continue in the house during the rest of the session as well.
-PRODUCTIVE UPPER HOUSE-
Rajya Sabha too had a productive day with discussion taking place on the much-awaited Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill and the Special Relief Amendment bill getting the nod of the House. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu announced that the members of the House can now send their notices online through a new app, even as the existing system of giving notices in writing will continue.
Owing to protests by TDP MPs who were pressing for Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh, the House was adjourned from 11:20 am…to 12 noon….truncating the zero hour. Rajya Sabha Chairman said that he has accepted a notice from TDP on the issue and slotted a short-duration discusson under Rule 176 on Tuesday.
But even when the proceedings of the House resumed at 12 noon, TDP MPs were unrelenting, some of whom stormed into the Well of the House.
Answering a question during the Question Hour, Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore said that under the relevant rules, the Ministry allocates advertising budget to newspapers. 15% of the budget goes to small newspapers, 15% to medium level newspapers and 50% to big newspapers.
In the post-lunch session, Rajya Sabha discussed and passed the Special Relief Amendment Bill. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the bill was needed to fast-track infrastructure projects.
The House then discussed the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2017 that seeks to impose stringent penalty for breaking traffic rules. The minimum fine is kept at 500 Rs. and the maximum at 1 lakh Rs.
The House could not discuss The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2018 because of opposition’s demand of sending it to Select Committee.
In tune with the advice of Rajya Sabha Chairman, the govt will now try to reach a consensus with political parties on the issue.