Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favourite social reform agenda, the bill to ban instant and oral divorce prevalent in Muslim community in India, will face an extremely tough floor test in the Rajya Sabha.
NDA government lacks the majority in the Rajya Sabha and the upper house has seen regular disruptions since the beginning of this winter session leading to early adjournments, sometimes within minutes of start of its proceedings for the day.
The government has listed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday following a walkout by several parties including the Congress and NDA ally AIADMK. Opposition parties were demanding that the bill be sent to a joint parliamentary committee for a careful scrutiny of the proposed penal provisions of the bill.
It’s an extremely challenging task for NDA floor managers to see the bill through in the Rajya Sabha.
Read | Winter Session 2018: Today in Lok Sabha
Today, the government has listed total five bills under its legislative agenda, including introduction of a new bill. Health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda will introduce the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018.
The bill seeks to regulate and standardise the education provided to paramedics and allied healthcare professionals and maintain a central register of these professionals.
The other four bills are: (i) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 (ii) the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018, (iii) the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and (iv) the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
Congress member T. Subbarami Reddy has moved a statutory resolution in the Rajya Sabha against the Triple Talaq Bill brought by the government. Both the resolution and Triple Talaq Bill are expected to be taken up at 12 noon if the house functions smoothly.
Today, the government will also table three important reports of Railway Convention Committee. These are: (i) cleanliness and hygiene in coaches and stations, (ii) facilities given by Indian Railways to differently abled persons (Divyangjan), and (iii) human resource development and manpower planning in Indian Railways.
The government will also table the reports prepared by the department related parliamentary standing committees of ministry of rural development and ministry of human resource development.
Today, the government will also reply to the questions asked by the members related to the ministries falling in the Group ‘I’ of the Rajya Sabha list, including important ministries like defence.
Ministries in the group ‘I’ of the Rajya Sabha list: ministry of defence, drinking water and sanitation, earth sciences, ministry of environment, forest and climate change, information and broadcasting, mines, Panchayati Raj, parliamentary affairs, road transport and highways rural development, science and technology, shipping, ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation, and youth affairs and sports.