For a change, the opposition parties on Monday decided to support the Constitution Amendment to the OBC Bill, which is scheduled to be introduced in the Lok Sabha, despite its ongoing stir over Pegasus row.
Fifteen opposition parties met at the office of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge where the decision was taken to extend support to the government on the move to provide power to states in selecting OBCs for inclusion.
This Bill seeks to clarify some provisions in the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Bill to restore the power of the states to identify the Backward Classes -- a long-standing demand made by a number of regional parties and even the ruling party's own OBC leaders.
It nullifies the top court's decision ruling that after a 2018 amendment in the Constitution, only the Centre could notify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs), not the states. Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar will introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
After the meeting, Kharge said, "The opposition parties have decided that it will support The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill 2021 being introduced in Parliament today."
Other Bills
In addition to the OBC Bill, Union Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal will introduce the National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the lower house.
The former aims to repeal the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973, while the latter aims to repeal the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970. Introduced in the Parliament in 2019, these Bills were referred to the standing committee which submitted its reports in November 2019.
On finance front, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be moving the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Lok Sabha for passage.
LLP (Amendment) Bill
Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2021 seeks to facilitate greater ease of living to law-abiding corporates and to decriminalise certain provisions of the Act.
The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 or the DICGC Amendment Bill 2021 proposes three key changes to improve the working of deposit insurance, adding an extra dimension to the Centre's landmark move last year to hike the insurance coverage for individual depositors in banks from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh.
In the Rajya Sabha, Sitharaman will move the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021 and the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021, already passed by the Lok Sabha last week.
MoS of finance Pankaj Chaudhary will move for the passage of The Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2021 and the Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2021 in the Rajya Sabha today, Aug. 9.
Apart from the above Bills, Union minister Arjun Munda will be moving the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha today following its passage from the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, allowing the inclusion of Mishmi-Kaman (Miju Mishmi), Idu (Mishmi), Taraon (Digaru Mishmi) and Monpa, Memba, Sartang and Sajolang (Miji) in the list in lieu of Mishmi, Idu, Taroan, and Momba respectively.
The Bill seeks to amend the constitutional list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) as recommended by Arunachal Pradesh.
