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Lok Sabha lists private members’ bills ahead of Parliament’s monsoon session
MPs including Derek O’Brien, V Sivadasan, John Brittas will introduce bills for discussion such as the Uniform Civil Code, Information Technology Bill, Constitution (Amendment) Bill among others
Lok Sabha has listed several private members’ bills (PMB) for introduction on July 22 during the upcoming monsoon session in the Parliament. MPs including Derek O’Brien, V Sivadasan, John Brittas will introduce bills for discussion such as the Uniform Civil Code, Information Technology Bill, Constitution (Amendment) Bill among others. However, an MP may not introduce the PMB despite being listed for introduction, said Maadhyam, a civic engagement platform.
“Despite a PMB being listed for intro, an MP may not introduce it. Even if introduced, as many do, it may never come up for discussion during tenure of MP,” the platform said in a series of tweets.
Also Read: Uttarakhand panel for Uniform Civil Code holds first meeting in Delhi
The monsoon session will begin on July 18 and the private members’ bills will be taken up after lunch on July 22. PMB is a proposed law that is introduced by legislators who are not involved in taking decisions on behalf of the executive. MPs other than ministers are private members of the legislature. In June, BJP MP Varun Gandhi said he may move a bill seeking to end the post-retirement benefits of MPs and MLAs. Earlier this week, Rashtriya Jananta Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha also said he will introduce a PMB on curbing hate crimes and hate speeches.
The civic engagement platform said introducing PMBs during the session is an extremely useful intervention as it proposes laws on subjects that are given less attention to by the government. “Sometimes, done for purely political reasons on controversial subjects, to ruffle some feathers,” it said.
“Since only second half of alternate #Friday is reserved for discussion of Private Members Business, most never get discussed,” said Maadhyam, adding, “Though every MP is a law maker, bills proposed by them, almost never become laws.”
Maadhyam earlier noted that over 3,300 notices of questions were submitted by nearly 250 MPs for the first three days of the monsoon session. “This shows how actively MPs, at least half of them, file questions to seek response from Govt on policy issues, in larger public interest,” it added.
