Review: 75 Years of Constitution, Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, Prominent Among Those Discussed in the 3rd Week of Winter Session

• Suresh Deepala

The 3rd session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on 25 November 2024 and is expected to continue until 20 December 2024. The 75 Years Journey of Constitution, and Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024 were prominent among those discussed in the 3^rd week of the winter session.

Despite some progress, the third week of the first winter session of the 18^th Lok Sabha continued to witness disruptions, similar to the first and second weeks. However, several important issues were discussed, and a few bills were considered during the same week.

With only another 5 days left for the conclusion of the winter session, which is planned for 19 sittings up to 20 December 2024, we look at some of the key developments and debates that took place during the third week.

Key Developments

On 9 December 2024, the eleventh day of the session in Lok Sabha, the starred questions were not called for oral reply, due to disruptions, and were treated as unstarred questions. Numerous papers were laid on the table, including several sub-legislations. Notable among these were 62 notifications issued under the Environmental (Protection) Act. The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was placed for further consideration following its discussion the previous week. However, the debate was inconclusive due to the interruptions.

In the Rajya Sabha, sitting in its 266 session, numerous reports were laid for consideration. Following this, the chairman observed that the discussions in the house should represent the interests of 1.4 billion people of the country, without which parliament would be of irrelevance. He wanted members to display very high standards in parliamentary proceedings and functioning, so as to be a role model for other legislatures of the country. Following this, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was taken up consideration in Lok Sabha the previous week, was placed for consideration. But the discussion could not be taken up due to the disorderly conduct of some of the members and the house got adjourned to the next day.

On 10 December 2024, following the appeal of speaker to maintain decorum, the Lok Sabha was adjourned due to interruptions. Upon reassembly, numerous reports were placed for discussion. The Coastal Shipping Bill, 2024, introduced the previous week, aimed at promoting coasting trade and boosting domestic participation in the sector – was introduced again, after the clarifications to questions raised by the members were given by Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. In Rajya Sabha, several sub-legislations and reports were laid before the members, including the Audit Reports and Annual Reports of 43 regional rural banks in the country. Seventeen (17) notifications issued under Central Goods and Services Tax, 2017 were also laid. By noon, the house was adjourned to the next day due to the disorderly conduct of some of the members.

On 11 December 2024, in Lok Sabha, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was discussed for over six hours, against the slotted time of four hours, and was passed. Further, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeking the formation of district management authorities, and urban management authorities, among others, was discussed. However, the discussion was not concluded due to the continued disruptions. The upper house was yet again adjourned due to the disorderly conduct of some of the members.

On 12 December 2024, in Lok Sabha, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed after the discussion for over seven hours, against the allotted time of six hours. The Upper House was intimated that Lok Sabha passed the Railways (Amendment) Bill and was therefore placed before it for discussion. The demand for a discussion on the impeachment of the Allahabad High Court judge, about the alleged derogatory and divisive statements made by him, was declined by the speaker. The house was adjourned by 2:12 PM due to disruptions.

On 13 December 2024, the 15^th day of the session, in Lok Sabha, after congratulating D Gukesh, the World Chess Champion of 2024,  several papers were laid for discussion. From noon, the house debated about 75 years journey of the Constitution of India for over 7 hours. In the upper house, the chairman made a remark that the opposition made a campaign against him. After this, by 11: 48 AM, the house was again adjourned to the next day due to the disorderly conduct of some of the members.

Some Important Question and Answers

• On the question of alleged excess sugar found in the baby feeding product ‘Cerelac’, the ministry replied that scrutiny found the sugar level in the product within the safer limits prescribed in the provisions of Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020.
• On the question of the spread of monkeypox, the ministry replied that there are no active cases currently. However, a total of 33 such cases were reported since 2022.
• On the question of various COVID-19 Variants of Concern (VoC) currently circulating, the ministry replied that there are no such variants as per the World Health Organization, as of 2 December 2024.
• On the question of virtual courts, the ministry replied that there are 27 virtual courts in 21 states of India.
• On the question of missing children, the government replied that data on missing and recovered children is available on the Khoya Paya portal.
• On the question of women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the ministry replied that there are over 2 crore such enterprises registered on Udyam Registration Portal (URP) and Udyam Assist Platform (UAP).
• On the question of interlinking rivers, the ministry provided details of rivers proposed for interlinking.
• On the question of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) population, the ministry replied that there are 45 lakhs of PVTGs in India.
• On the question of the privatisation of airports, the ministry replied that six airports have been leased out on the public-private partnership (PPP) model since 2014.

Some Important Reports

• Action Taken Report by Government on the recommendations contained in the Twenty-First Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) of the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs (2023-24) on the subject, ‘Smart Cities Mission: An Evaluation’
• Action Taken Report by Government on the Observations and Recommendations of the Committee contained in their Eightieth Report (17th Lok Sabha) on “Loss of Revenue due to irregular tax exemption-South Asian University (SAU)”
• First Report of the Standing Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs (2024-25) on Demands for Grants (2024-25) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

Some Important Matters raised under 377

• Ramashankar Rajbhar regarding the need to frame laws to abolish superstitious practices in the country.
• Sudama Prasad regarding the refund of money to people who invested in Sahara company.
• Arun Nehru regarding the need to take comprehensive measures to control Spam Calls from Telemarketing and other agencies.
• Kirti Azad Jha regarding the need to adhere to a robust pharmaceutical regulatory framework to ensure transparency in the pharmaceutical distribution and procurement process.
• Supriya Sule regarding providing legal status to MSP for agricultural produce.
• Aditya Yadav regarding action taken in the incident of boiler blast at NTPC Plant in Unchahar, Raibareli, Uttar Pradesh.
• Balwant Baswant Wankhade regarding the need to curb incidents of cyber fraud.