18 bills pending in Rajya Sabha for long | Economic Times

The Centre has listed over 18 bills pending in the Rajya Sabha as an area of concern and flagged them to the ministries concerned for “suitable decisions”. The issue is also learnt to have been taken up at the meeting of the Council of Ministers with the PM on July 14.People in the know told ET that the parliamentary affairs ministry had written to all ministries on Thursday on the pending bills, besides the issue of assurances and due process to be followed during the monsoon session that begins on Monday.“Suitable decisions need to be taken on the long-pending bills in Rajya Sabha pertaining to your department,” the parliamentary affairs ministry said in a memorandum issued on Thursday.The government can either go ahead with the pending bills or seek their withdrawal on the ground that it does not wish to proceed with them, or that new comprehensive bills are being brought in instead, or if some proposals in them have been dropped.Among the 18 bills are several that have been pending for years, and a few, such as the 79th amendment to the Constitution on reservation extension, for decades. Among these are three from the law ministry.The pending bills include the Readjustment of Representations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Bill, 2013 and the Seeds Bill, 2004. The pending Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants), Bill, 2014 — planned to fully address the issue of illegal occupation of waqf properties and provide for a faster mechanism — is on the watch list for suitable action.