Modi’s 'health' challenges in Rajya Sabha

As large number of bills pending in the upper house of Parliament are health bills and the BJP-led NDA aliance does not have the numbers in the upper house to ensure they are passed
Modi’s 'health' challenges  in Rajya Sabha
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will face a tough 'health' challenge when the first parliamentary session of the 16th Lok Sabha begins Wednesday.

With mere 42 seats in Rajya Sabha, the ruling party is far behind the halfway mark of 123 in Rajya Sabha, needed to ensure safe passage of the large number of health bills which the previous UPA regime left pending. The total NDA seat tally of around 60 in Rajya Sabha is also not enough.

The new government will have to deal with 60 bills pending in Parliament, many of which are from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (11 bills), says PRS Legislative Research, a research organisation working on parliamentary affairs.

According to the organisation, pending bills relating the health ministry include The Mental Health Care Bill of 2013, The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill of 2013, The Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill of 2013 and The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention And Control) Bill of 2014.

The second highest number of pending Bills is in the Ministry of Law and Justice with total eight bills. It includes bills such as The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013 and The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (3rd) Bill, 2013.

The third highest number of pending bills are from the Union labour ministry (7 pending Bills), which include the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act of 2012, The Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2013 and The Mines (Amendment) Bill of 2011.

Of the 60 bills pending in the 16th Lok Sabha, 18 were introduced before 2009.

When the 15th Lok Sabha completed its term, 128 bills remained pending in Parliament. Of these, 68 bills were pending in Lok Sabha and lapsed. It will be up to the new Cabinet to take forward the pending legislation, as well as restart the introduction process on the bills that have lapsed.

Ministry Bills Pending in Rajya Sabha
Health and Family Welfare 11
Law and Justice 8
Labour and Employment 7
Urban Development 4
Home Affairs 3
Social Justice and Empowerment 2
Shipping 2
Agriculture 2
Environment and Forest 2
Bills under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Bill Introduced
The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013 August 19, 2013
The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013 August 19, 2013
The Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013 August 29, 2013
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention And Control) Bill, 2014 February 11, 2014
The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 May 21, 2013
The National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011 December 22, 2011
The Right of Person with Disability Bill February 7, 2014
The Indian Medicine and Homeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005 August 12, 2005
The Indian Medicine Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005 March 23, 2005
The Homeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2005 March 23, 2005
The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical Educational Institutions, Medical Educational Institutions and University Bill, 2010 May 3, 2010

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