Monsoon session of Parliament to begin from Sept 14; 47 items to be taken up during 18 sittings

The monsoon session of the Parliament is set to begin from Monday (September 14) and will be the first Parliament sitting since the outbreak of coronavirus pandamic. According to a release by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, a total of 47 items have been identified for being taken up during the session which is scheduled to conclude on October 1, subject to exigencies of Government Business.

"The Session will provide a total of 18 sittings spread over a period of 18 days (all the days including Saturdays and Sundays of the ensuing session will be working days) and a total of 47 items (includes 45 Bills and 02 financial items) have been identified for being taken up during the Monsoon Session, 2020", read the release.

The total eleven Bills replacing the ordinance are:

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Prices Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Insolvency & Bankruptcy (Second) Amendment Bill, 2020
The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020
The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Salary and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Salary, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020

According to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, some important pending legislations in the Houses required to be considered and passed during the Session. They include:

The Pesticides Management Bill, 2020
The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCIM) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha
The National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2019 as passed by Rajya Sabha
The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha.

Other legislations include:

The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
The Rashtriya Raksha University Bill, 2020
The National Forensic Science University Bill, 2020
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 as passed by Lok Sabha
The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment), Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha
The Dam Safety Bill, 2019 as passed by Lok Sabha, The Major Port Authorities Bill 2020
The Code On Social Security and Welfare, 2019, The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2019 and The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019.

Some other new bills likely to be introduced, considered and passed during this session are:

The Bilateral Netting of Financial Contracts Bill, 2020
The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2020
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2020.The Foreign Contribution
(Regulation)Amendment Bill, 2020
The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2020
The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The Jammu and Kashmir Official Language, Bill, 2020.

Few bills for withdrawal during the session are:

The Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018
The Mines (Amendment) Bill, 2011
The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2011
The Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2013, and The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Amendment Bill, 2013.

Since this is the first Parliament session being held amid the coronavirus pandemic, All safety measures have been taken to conduct the session as per guidelines issued for Covid-19.

There will be a four-hour session for each House each day (9 am to 1 pm for Rajya Sabha and 3 pm to 7 pm for Lok Sabha.

The session will see other measures like seating MPs in a staggered way in chambers of both Houses, as well as galleries to maintain physical distancing norms, the introduction of a mobile app for registering of MPs' attendance, and seats separated with poly-carbon sheets in the House.

The Zero Hour will be there and the un-starred questions will be laid on the table.