The monsoon session of the parliament will start from 18 July 2022 and continue till 12 August 2022. The Election Commission of India also announced that the presidential election will be held on 18 July and the vote count will take place on 21 July, a few days prior to when President Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure comes to an end on 24 July. The ruling party’s (Bhartiya Janta Party) candidate for the Presidency is Ms. Draupadi Murmu, former Governor of the state of Jharkhand and the opposition’s candidate is Mr. Yashwant Sinha, a former BJP leader and former Finance Minister. In addition to the presidential election, the vice-presidential election will also take place during the session.
The government is anticipating a busy session, with at least 25 bills pending. These include the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019; the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 (the bill prohibits individuals from funding any unlawful activity involving weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems); the Mediation Bill, 2021; The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021; the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021; and, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
The Bank Privatisation Bill, a legislation for privatisation of select public sector banks, which has been in the works for several months is also likely to be presented in the monsoon session. The centre wants to maintain a minimal presence in the financial sector by lowering the minimum stake in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) from 51 percent to 26 percent. However, the government will only exit those PSBs that have been identified for privatization. These include the Indian Overseas Bank, the Central Bank of India, and UCO Bank.
The government is also expected to introduce a new law to replace the current SEZ Act, 2005, which governs Special Economic Zones (SEZ), with the Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs (DESH) Act in order to bring SEZs in compliance with the norms of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The proposed regulation also proposes to allow development hubs to house offshore banking entities, subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India.
In this session, the opposition is expected to raise several issues such as inflation, the overall economic situation (unemployment, fall in rupee and slow recovery of labour markets), the Agnipath scheme and the demand to extend the GST compensation period (An act which was introduced by the government in 2017 to compensate the states for the loss of revenue arising due to the implementation of GST). The recent political crisis in Maharashtra which resulted in change in the government is also likely to be raised in the parliament.
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