The second week of the 17th Lok Sabha saw hectic business on Monday as several key Bills were introduced, as many as 10 questions were asked during Question Hour and the debate on the President’s Address got under way.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on Monday amid protests from Opposition members.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal introduced a Bill that will allow trusts to set up units in special economic zones (SEZs), while Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy moved a Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, that will allow people living along the International Border the benefit of reservation in government jobs.
‘Defies SC order’
The Aadhar legislation to replace an ordinance issued in March seeks to impose strict penalties for violation of norms. Revolutionary Socialist Party leader N.K. Premachandran opposed the Bill on three grounds: it defies an earlier Supreme Court judgment, permits private agencies to store data and violates fundamental rights.
“Aadhaar is in the national interest and it does not infringe privacy … I want to convince [everyone] that there is no compulsory compliance. SIM cards can be taken with or without Aadhaar,” Mr. Prasad told the Lok Sabha.
The Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019 too seeks to replace an ordinance, promulgated in March by the previous government, that will bring trusts under the definition of a juristic person for the purposes of setting up a unit in SEZs.
The present provisions of the Act do not permit trusts to set up units in SEZs.
