Parliament Updates: Lok Sabha passes POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019; proposed law introduces possibility of death penalty

Lok Sabha discusses Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill.

Lok Sabha unanimously passes POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019

National database has names of 6,20,000 child sexual offenders, says Smriti Irani

In a reply to the debate on the POCSO (Amendment) Bill, 2019, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani said that a national database, put together in 2018, has a list of 6,20,00 perpetrators, who are tracked by investigating agencies.

She also informed the House that the media has been given guidelines to conduct senstive coverage of cases of crime against children. Exposing the identity of a child victim is punishable with jail up to a year, she informed.

Irani also agreed that the convictionr ate under POCSO is low, adding that precautions are taken to ensure no innocent is punished. She said no person under 16 will be hanged under this law, while expressing regret that number of “child perpetrators” is rising.

Establish special POCSO courts in every district, says Thol Thirumavalavan

Independent Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambareesh said that even death penalty is not enough for those who commit heinous crimes against children, while RLP’s Hanuman Beniwal said the perpetrators should be hanged in public.

While BJP’s Darshana Vikram Jardosh welcomed all the penalties suggested in the Bill, VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan said that though his party is opposed to death penalty, there should be exceptions in rarest of the rare cases. talking about the Kathua and Unnao rape cases and the the conduct of the police in such cases, he said that the provision of not questioning the child victim directly is not being followed. He also posed a demand for POCSO special courts in every district.

Angry exchanges are taking place between members of the Opposition and BJP MP JP Nadda

‘34 groups designated as terror organisations in Congress era’, says MoS Home G Kishan Reddy

In the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said, “In order to declare Masood Azhar as a terrorist, the then Indian prime minister had sought international support. In the Congress-era, around 34 organisations were declared as terrorist organisations. We are only continuing the work that the Congress started in 1967.”

Social movement needed against child sexual abuse, says Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in the Lok Sabha, “There must be a social movement against child sexual abuse in the country. We also need to ensure that there are enough courts to deal with the cases.

National Medical Commission Bill, 2019: Here’s all you need to know about legislation

The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday and despite widespread protests by doctors, the bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. It repeals the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 that led to the formation of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The broad role of the NMC will include:

— Regulation of the fees for 50 percent seats at both MBBS and postgraduate level in all private and deemed universities.

— Introducing new schemes and reforms to tackle the skewed distribution of medical seats across various medical institutes in the country.

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Acquittal rates under UAPA Act very low, says TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Roy

TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said that the rates of acquittal under the UAPA Act are very low, and there are several cases of people being falsely implicated.

Kabil Sibal questions need to declare person as terrorist

Congress MP Kapil Sibal said, “Why do you need a separate provision to declare a person as a terrorist? Will a person be declared a terrorist before an FIR is passed, or after the chargesheet is filed? How is this consistent with the principle of ‘innocent till proven guilty?’”

He also brought the House’s attention to the amount of time innocent people spend in jail as under trials. “Bills will be passed with a manufactured majority in the Rajya Sabha, but to no avail because several provisions won’t stand scrutiny of law,” Sibal said.
 
“Hafiz Saeed is a terrorist. Nathuram Godse is terrorist. But you are not brave enough to call Godse a terrorist,” he said.

Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad asks that UAPA Bill be discussed tomorrow

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad asked that the Rajya Sabha be adjourned now, and they can take up the UAPA Bill tomorrow. Minister Pralhad Joshi asks the House to extend its sitting and pass the UAPA (Amendment) Bill. Prakash Javadekar says that there is a backlog of Bills, while Piyush Goyal says that only one speaker from treasury benches will speak in order to ensure that the House’s time is saved.

Rajya Sabha passes National Medical Council Bill, 2019 to bring into effect medical education sector reforms

Uproar in Rajya Sabha

​Uproar in Rajya Sabha as Opposition leaders say that if none of their opposing arguments and remarks are kept on recod, what is the need of their presence in the House.

Later, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad urges Speaker to let those moving amendments to speak for some time to avoid the repeated division of House, in order to save time.

Clause-by-clause vote is taken on the NMC Bill in Rajya Sabha

NCP’s Supriya Sule says a sexual offender registry should be maintained

Stressing on the need for a sexual offender registry, NCP’s Supriya Sule said in the Lok Sabha said that offenders keep moving from one place to another. She added that while she understands the concerns around the death penalty, it is awarded in the rarest of rare cases.​

BJD’s Sarmistha Sethi said there is a need to provide proper compensation to a victim in order to provide for their treatment, education, etc. She also said that stringent punishment should be given in case of specially-abled victims.

Govt will put a cap on fees of MBBS courses, says Union Minister Harsh Vardhan

While responding to MPs doubts and questions on the NMC Bill in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said that community health providers is a concept which has been adopted by even developed nations. “21 of the 25 members of the NMC are doctors and they will decide what will be the minimum qualification required to be a community health providers. This is a WHO-approved practice,” he said.

Harsh Vardhan continues speech amid uproar. 40,000 of 80,000 of MBBS seats are under government institutions and there will be a cap on fees too. “MPs said the representation of states is less in the NMC. Of the 25 members of the council, 11 are state representatives,” he said.

NEET has been accepted by aspiring doctors, says Union Minister Harsh Vardhan

NEET is already an institutionalised mechanism, Health Minister HarshVardhan told Rajya Rabha during the discussion on NMC Bill. He said that the examination has been successfully accepted by aspiring doctors and is in 13 languages. “Syllabus takes into consideration the syllabus of various boards,” he said, listing out details of the examination sought by MPs.

Kerala Congress (M)’s Jose K Mani asks details about national MBBS test

Raising issues with the NMC Bill in Rajya Sabha, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said that it is not specified who will conduct the examination, what will be the mode of examination and whether the exam will be theory or MCQ. “Nothing has been specified,” he said.

DMK’s Kanimozhi urges Smriti Irani to send POCSO Bill to Standing Committee, reconsider death penalty

Appreciating that the POCSO Bill rules out the discrimination of gender, DMK’s Kanimozhi said that sensitivity in cases of crimes against children increased after bill was first introduced.

“But with the death penalty in the bill, the judge will have to follow stricter questioning, which will have an adverse impact on the child, who will be forced to relive the trauma,” she said. She urged Union Minister Smriti Irani to reconsider the death penalty, something many nations are moving away from. She requested ehr to send the Bill to the Stnading Committee.

Lok Sabha passes Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2019

Bill may not be perfect but disbanding MCI need of the hour, says Gopal Narayan Singh of BJP

Gopal Narayan Singh, while supporting the bill raised the issue of MCI’s monopoly on the management and regulation of medical education. Pointing to the dearth of doctors and the MCI’s failure to address the issue, Singh said that a new body that will specifically address the country’s growing need for medical practitioners is the need of the hour. 

He said that the government was merely trying to appoint a body that will take steps to approach the problems dictated by the country’s needs. 

He said that if certain sections of the bill have some inadequacies then they can be fixed in time, but an amendment at a later stage was certainly better than the status quo.

Manoj Kumar Jha dums NMC bill national ommission bill 

Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD) says blatant privatisation is not a panacea. Don’t celebrate quackery as a kind of contribution, he says. This is an omission Bill, not a Commission Bill.

Santanu Sen, Rajya Sabha MP and IMA president opposes NMA bill

Santany Sen, a doctor by profession and a Rajya Sabha MP, raised three main contentions to the bill. 

• Firstly, he said that the elected representatives who are doctors and the search committee that will appoint the National Medical Association will all be central government employees. He said it is unlikely that a central government employee, even if he is a doctor, will go against the government’s will.
• Secondly, Sen said that 70 percent of seats in private colleges are currently regulated by the central or respective state governments. However, the government has given private institutions completely free reign on 50 percent of the seats, and even in the remaining 50 percent seats the government has said it will only review the criteria of selection etc. Does this mean you are leaving all 100 percent seats in private colleges free to be sold off at whatever price these colleges like?
• Thirdly, Sen said that the Clause 32 which allows any person related to the modern medical community a limited license to prescribe medicine will give free reign to quacks. He said that by the current definition, everybody from compounder to ambulance driver can be granted license to practice medicine. How will you regulate them, how will they be trained or their knowledhe be tested, the bill remmains silent.

AIADMK ’totally rejects’ NMC Bill over NEET, NEXT exams 

AIADMK raised the matter of the NEET and NEXT exams envisioned in the NMC bill, of which the NEET exam has already been institutionalised. The party said that the Tamil Nadu students are tested on the CBSE syllabus in a combined entrance test for all medical colleges instead of the state board’s syllabus. The party MP said that the government should first introduce a standard education policy and system across the country and only then can they impose a common entrance test across the country.

Rajya Sabha adjourned for 10 minutes as Opposition creates ruckus over empty Treasury benches, absence of health minister

Shiv Sena MP asks govt if production of Train-18 stopped

A Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP today sought to know from the government if production of indigenous ‘Train-18’ has been stopped.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the House, Sanjay Raut (SS) said the semi-high speed train, popularly known as Train-18, is considered as a game-changer for the Indian Railways and is one of the most successful experiments of Make-In-India.

He said the first rake of Train-18 or ‘Vande Bharat Express’ was flagged off by the Prime Minister on New Delhi- Varanasi route and people are appreciating the train. “Now there are reports that production of Train-18 has been stopped,” he said

Smriti Irani, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah join Narendra Modi in front row seats in Lok Sabha; Rahul Gandhi retains seat in second row

Prime minister Narendra Modi will be joined by his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Smriti Irani- all three first time Lok Sabha members- in the front row of the lower house, with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav retaining their front seats meant for opposition leaders. 

While Home Minister Shah and Law Minister Prasad had front row seats in Rajya Sabha before the general elections, it is for the first time Irani will have a front-row seat in Parliament. Rahul Gandhi retains his seat in the second row in the Lower House in the seat allocation by Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday.

National Medical Commission Bill heavily lopsided, excessively centralises health subject, says SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav

Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party said that the young MPs will be left without an answer if this bill is passed today in its current form, because they have been sent here to protect the states’ rights. So they will not be able to reply why they were quiet when the states’ rights were being snatched away.

Jairam Ramesh moves amendment to change composition of NMC for better representation to states 

Jairam Ramesh, who was also the part of the standing committee that reviewed the bill said that by partially accepting the Standing Committee recommendations the government have compromised constitutionality of scheme of things. Moving an amendment, he said that the government wants 14 central representatives, six representatives from states and five representatives elected from the profession. This means that it will be 15 years before some of the state get a chance at representation.

Ramesh proposed that the state’s representation be increased to 12 members so that the states can get a chance at representation every four years.

Will be the last person to fail to uphold integrity of medical profession, Harsh Vardhan tells doctors protesting NMC Bill

“There are some people, some doctors who have some concerns about the bill, but I would like to tell them that myself being a long time campaigner for the medical association, I will be the last person to fail to uphold the integrity of the medical profession,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is also a qualified doctor, said.

Accepted 40 out of 56 suggestions by parliamentary standing committee, Health Minister tells RS on NMC bill 

“I would like to say this on record that 40 out of the 56 recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee has been fully accepted, seven have been partially accepted and nine have not been accepted,” Harsh Vardhan said.

Jairam Ramesh says NMC Bill will open floodgates of privatisation in medical education 

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who moved two amendments to the National Medical Commission Bill as passed by Lok Sabha, said that the current provisions of the bill will open floodgates of privatisation of medical education. He said, “I am not against privatisation. I want Air India to be privatised, I want development to take place, but I am against privatising the medical education. It should be a basic right.”

The National Medical Commission Bill and the UAPA (Amendment) Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha

Nirmala Sitharaman tables Insolvency and Bankrupcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moves The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019 for debate and passing in the Lok Sabha.

Mahua Moitra demands information about panel drafting data protection bill be made public 

Speaking in the Zero Hour, TMC MP Mahua Moitra said that the government had prommised a comprehensive data protection bill and the Supreme Court had also put the onus of drafting a new policy on them. Howeverm she questioned the delay in tabling the Bill and asked who were the private firms and individuals empanelled to draft the law. “Please make public that who are the empanelled GR firms and who are the private lawyers drafting the law. We should also know who are the clients of these firms and advocate so that we can be sure that no vested interests of these private individuals are being weaved into these bills.

Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary says govt handed over 5 of the only 15 profit making airports to Adani 

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary raised the issue of privatisation of the very few profit-making airports India has. Chowdhary said that India has only 14 profit-making airports while 109 are in loss. He said that of these 14, five have been handed over to the Adani group to upgrade and operate these airports. 

He claimed that the NITI Aayog too had advised against privatisation of these ports, stating that the AAI should have been allowed to make profits out of the few channels of income available.

Speaker assures LS of one-day notice before bills are table after Oppn fumes on regular revisions to day’s agenda

After hearing out the members, Speaker Om Birla said that although the government was acting as per rules in changing the List of Business, he will still take into consideration the members’ concerns. He said he will personally ensure that at least a day’s notice is given before a new bill is tabled.

House can’t function on whims of govt, Opposition fumes after new bills listed in LS on short notice

The Opposition on Thursday fired fresh salvos at the government in Lok Sabha for its constant habit of revising the list of businesses at the last moment, leaving many members to be taken by surprise when they find an entirely new agenda for the Parliament, the next day. 

TMC MP Saugata Roy said, “This House cannot function on the government’s whims and fancies. They are deliberately not giving us sufficient time to read up on key bills.” 

DMK MP Kanimozhi said that what should have been an exception, has become a norm. She said, “Speaker sir, everyday we have to wait till 9,10, 11 pm to understand what bills will be listed in Lok Sabha the next day. We do not get sufficient time to prepare.”

Another TMC MP said. “Sir we are not challenging yours, or the government’s power. But there are two things, the existance of power and the execution of power. We are questioning the whimsical and arbitrary exercise of this power.”

Congress’ Shashi Tharoor quoted Lok Sabha handbook to claim that the government is duty bound to give at least two-day prior notice before bringing new bills.

Congress issues whip to MPs to remain present in Rajya Sabha

What is the UAPA bill?

The UAPA Act is a detailed Central legislation that seeks to provide rules and procedures to deal with terrorist and other unlawful activities that affect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India. The new amendment bill proposes to make four changes to the existing act:

1. The Central government will be able to designate an individual as a terrorist. As of now, the government can only designate organisations, and not individuals, as terrorists.
2. It empowers central agency NIA to seize or attach any property associated with terrorism when the said agency investigates the case. Earlier, Centre needed prior permission from highest ranking police officer in a state
3. It allows officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases under the UAP Act. As per the existing UAP Act, only officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above are allowed to investigate cases.
4. It broadens the scope of what constitutes a terrorist act.

Delhi’s resident doctors to protest introduction of NMC Bill in RS, decide to withdraw all services, including emergency

Healthcare services at government hospitals, including AIIMS, Safdarjung and RML in Delhi, are likely to be severely hit with resident doctors deciding to withdraw all kind of services, including that of emergency department, on Thursday to protest the introduction of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. 

The Bill, which seeks to replace the graft-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI),  drew flak from doctors who allege it is anti-poor, anti-student and undemocratic".

Stormy session in Rajya Sabha today as contentious NMC Bill, UAPA Amendment Bill set to be tabled

Expect an intense session in Rajya Sabha as emboldened by its victory on the triple talaq bill, the government plans to table two more contentious bills in the House of Elders today. First is the The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill 2019, or the UAPA draft law, which ostensibly will strengthen the system against terrorism. However, the Opposition argues the bill is rife with inconsistencies and loophole making it possible for the State or authorities to misuse the new found powers under the law. Second is the National Medical Commission Bill, which has the entire medical fraternity up in arm against the legislation. Key all India doctors’ bodies, including the Indian Medical Association and the Resident Doctors’ Association have announced a 24-hour strike to protest against the bill.