Parliament Monsoon Session begins today: Opposition vs NDA govt over NEET-UG, Kanwar Yatra rows likely | 10 points

The first Monsoon Session of Parliament after the NDA government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came to power the record third consecutive term will be begin on Monday, July 22.

In the afternoon, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will table the Economic Survey in Parliament, a day before she will present the Union Budget.

The united Opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case, the row over the directive by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names and railway safety.

The Monsoon Session will conclude on August 12.

Parliament Monsoon Session: Top updates

The Parliament Monsoon Session will have 19 sittings till August 12 when the government is expected to present six bills, including the one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, and also get the Parliament nod for the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under central rule.

The row over the directive asking eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their owners’ names escalated as the opposition parties stated they will raise the issue in Parliament.

At an all-party meeting on Sunday on the eve of the Parliament session, several opposition parties, including the Congress, DMK, SP and AAP, criticised the order by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments and made it clear that they would raise the issue in the two Houses. They demanded that the government should allow a discussion on it in Parliament.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju has convened a meeting of the floor leaders of political parties in Parliament to understand issues they would want to raise during the session.

The Biju Janata Dal, led by former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has declared that it would play the role of a strong opposition and aggressively raise issues of interest to the state in Parliament.

Patnaik, who was elected as the chairperson of BJD Parliamentary party, has asked his party MPs to take up the demand for special category status for Odisha.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has said the Opposition would also resist any government move to dilute its stake in public sector banks below 51 per cent.

During the Monson Session, the government is likely to bring amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and other laws such as Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 in the Budget Session due to which the government’s shareholding in PSBs can go down below 51 per cent.

Besides the Finance Bill, the government has also listed The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill for introduction, consideration and passing. The proposed legislation aims to bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of different organisations working in the field of disaster management, a Lok Sabha bulletin issued Thursday said.

The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 seeks to replace the Aircraft Act of 1934 to provide enabling provisions for ease of doing business in the civil aviation sector.

The other bills listed for introduction and passage during the session are the Boilers Bill to replace the pre-Independence era law, the Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill and the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill.