Economic Times, July 29, 2019
After 17 parties wrote to Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expressing their concern over bills being voted through without any legislative scrutiny, BJP leader Bhupender Yadav defended this practice by stating that sending bills to select committees was “only a matter of practice of the House and not a necessary requirement”. He blamed the Opposition for “several washout sessions” as four of the five sessions were ‘washouts’.
The letter by the Opposition leaders stated that in the ongoing session, 14 bills have been passed . None of these bills were referred to a standing or select committee for legislative scrutiny. They also pointed out that crucial bills, such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA) Bill, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill and the RTI Bill, have been passed by both Houses.
Yadav said there were many bills, which were either approved by the select committee or standing committee but were waiting to be passed by the Rajya Sabha, such as the National Medical Commission Bill 2019, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 and the Companies Amendment Bill 2019.
“The opposition should “introspect why Monsoon Session 2015, Budget Session 2018, Winter Session 2018 and Interim Budget Session 2019 were washed out,” he said.
Yadav said there were many bills, which were either approved by the select committee or standing committee but were waiting to be passed by the Rajya Sabha, such as the National Medical Commission Bill 2019, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 and the Companies Amendment Bill 2019.
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