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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 |
Analysis: Parliament in the Winter Session 2013