12 important Bills that our lawmakers will seek to pass this Budget Session

NEW DELHI, 27/11/2012: Parliament House even as both houses were adjoured over the FDI issue in New Delhi. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

The Budget Session of the Indian Parliament will be held from Feb. 23 to May 13, 2016 with 31 sittings in all. The agenda for this government, caught in the midst of various political storms such as Rohith Vemula’s suicide and the crisis at Jawaharlal Nehru University, would be to draw consensus among all MPs for 12 essential Bills. Most of them — listed below — have already been passed in the Lok Sabha and are pending in the Rajya Sabha:

>Bills listed for Consideration and Passing
GST Bill	Gives concurrent taxation powers to the centre and states to levy a Goods and Services Tax, and creates a Goods and Services Tax Council.
Real Estate Bill	Regulates transactions between buyers and promoters of real estate projects and sets up state level Regulatory Authorities to monitor it
Lokpal Bill	Modifies the composition of the Selection Committee to include the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, and the manner of declaration of assets of public servants.
Anti-Hijacking Bill	Replaces the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982. Defines hijacking and awards death penalty for hijacking in certain cases, such as death of hostage or security personnel.
Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill	Prohibits reporting of corruption related complaints that fall under 10 specified categories such as economic and scientific interests, cabinet proceedings and those within the ambit of the Official Secrets Act.
High Court & Supreme Court Judges Bill	Seeks to ensure uniformity in pensions and other conditions of service of Supreme Court and High Court judges.
Repealing and Amending Bill	Repeals 295 Acts which have ceased to be in force, and amends two Acts.
Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill	Seeks to repeal 758 Appropriation Acts.
Industries Amendment Bill	Excludes production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act.
Bureau of Indian Standards Bill	Replaces the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. Seeks to establish BIS as the national standards body and mandatory standardisation of products.
National Waterways Bill, 2015	Replaces the five existing national waterways laws. Identifies additional 101 waterways as national waterways.
Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill	Allows the central government to revise liability limits of air carriers for compensation related to death, injury, and loss of baggage.

Apart from this, four other Bills have also been listed for introduction, consideration and passing; two for introduction and two for withdrawal.

Source: PRS Legislative Research