Four J&K bills among 18 listed for winter session of Parliament

Centre mulls to enhance strength of J&K Assembly from 107 to 114, extend provisions of women’s quota

Jammu: The Union government has listed 18 bills including four related to Jammu & Kashmir for passage for discussion in the winter session of Parliament commencing on December 4.
According to a bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, 18 bills listedincluding four related to J&K, and three to replace the criminal laws, during the Winter Session of Parliament.
The government also plans to bring a bill to increase the strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly from 107 to 114 in a bid to provide representation to Kashmiri migrants, displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir and Scheduled Tribes.
Besides the bills, the government has listed the first batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2023-24 for presentation, discussion and voting during the session.
The Winter Session of Parliament begins on December 4 and will continue till December 22.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023; and the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 26 but were not taken up for discussion or passage in the monsoon session.
The J&K Reorganisation Amendment Bill seeks to nominate two members from the “Kashmiri migrants” community, who “migrated” when militancy was at its peak in the 1989-90, as Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. One of the members will be a woman.
It also proposes to nominate one member from “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” from among the people who were displaced in the 1947-48, 1965, and 1971 India-Pakistan wars. The Bill aims “to preserve their political rights” and “overall social and economic development”.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill that seek to replace the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act respectively have also been listed for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha.
The three bills were examined by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, which submitted its reports with dissent notes by opposition members.
The new bills listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha are: The Boilers Bill, The Provisional Collection of Taxes Bill, The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill.
The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill and The Central University (Amendment) Bill are also among the new bills.
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill proposes to set up a three-member committee led by the prime minister for appointing future chief election commissioners and election commissioners, and The Post Office Bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha, have also been listed for the Winter Session.
The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, which seeks to simplify the registration process for periodicals and newspapers and do away with several penal provisions that led to the prosecution and imprisonment of publishers, and the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, which were approved by the Rajya Sabha, too have been listed for consideration and passage by the Lok Sabha.
Rajya Sabha has listed The Repealing and Amending Bill, which was approved by Lok Sabha, for consideration and passage.