Parliament session: Private member’s bill to ban non-veg food at govt functions to be tabled

A bill to prohibit non-vegetarian food at all government programmes and another to prevent bribery in the private sector are among the list of private member’s bills that will be discussed in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

A bill to prohibit non-vegetarian food at all government programmes and another to prevent bribery in the private sector are among the list of private member’s bills that will be discussed in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

A total of 20 bills from members have been listed for discussion in this session, according to a Lok Sabha notification. While most private member bills are rejected after a brief discussion, 14 such pieces of legislation have so far been passed in Parliament since Independence. The last one was approved in 1970.

Parvesh Sahib Singh, the BJP MP from West Delhi, has listed the Official Government Meetings and Functions (Prohibition on Serving Non-Vegetarian Food) Bill. According to Singh, “Germany’s environment ministry laid a proposal to ban non vegetarian food in government meeting and functions as it has huge impact on climate and global warming. In India, we can take an initiative to move away from non-vegetarian food as it has huge carbon foot print.”

Singh underlined that “bill does not seek a blanket ban on non-veg food for common people. But at least from government side, we can have a step towards sustainable food systems and climate friendly lifestyle,” he said.

Another BJP MP, Tirath Singh Rawat, planned to bring a bill to introduce yoga in all schools in the country. The former CM of Uttarakhand, who will pilot the Compulsory Teaching of Yoga in Educational Institutions Bill, said, “Yoga must be taught at the school level in the formative years. It helps in both physical and mental growth.”

Two Opposition lawmakers, NK Premachandran and VK Sreekandan—both from Kerala—will push bills with the same objective: to amend the section 3 of the MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) law. Section 3 stipulates that the state government will give job to every worker for a maximum of 100 days in a year.

The bills come after many Opposition leaders demanded up to 150 days of work for an individual. The government, however, has refused to increase the annual cap and argued that in the event of natural calamities a state can give 150 days of jobs as provided in the act.

BJP MP Rama Devi is set to move a bill to prevent bribery in the private sector, and Congress lawmaker Dean Kuriakose will bring The Payment of Compensation to Victims of Wildlife Encounters Bill. A number of Constitution Amendment Bills are also expected to be pushed by individual members.