After clearing the passage for some major Bills like Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 now the Winter Session of the parliament is likely to take up the following bills for discussion:
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, inter alia, provides for the following, namely:—
(i) to omit the proviso to clause (12) of section 5 of the Code so as to clarify that the insolvency commencement date is the date of admission of an application for initiating corporate insolvency resolution process;
(ii) to amend section 7 of the Code to insert certain provisos specifying a minimum threshold for certain classes of financial creditors for initiating insolvency resolution process;
(iii) to amend section 11 of the Code so as to clarify that a corporate debtor should not be prevented from filing an application for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process against other corporate debtors;
(iv) to amend section 14 of the Code to clarify that a licence, permit, registration, quota, concession, clearances or a similar grant or right cannot be terminated or suspended during the Moratorium period;
(v) to amend section 16 of the Code so as to provide that an insolvency resolution professional should be appointed on the date of admission of the application for initiation of insolvency resolution process;
(vi) to amend section 23 of the Code to enable the “resolution professional” to manage the affairs of the corporate debtor during interim period between the expiry of corporate insolvency resolution process till the appointment of a liquidator;
(vii) to insert a new section 32A so as to provide that the liability of a corporate debtor for an offence committed prior to the commencement of the corporate insolvency resolution process shall cease under certain circumstances;
(viii) to amend section 227 of the Code so as to clarify that the insolvency and liquidation proceedings for financial service providers may be conducted with such modifications and in such manner as may be prescribed; and
(ix) the other amendments which are of consequential in nature.
The proposed legislation intends to amalgamate, simplify and rationalise the relevant provisions of the following nine central labour enactments relating to social security, namely:––
1. The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923;
2. The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948;
3. The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952;
4. The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959;
5. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961;
6. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972;
7. The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981;
8. The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996; and
9. The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to —
(a) expand the scope of the Act by modifying the definitions of ‘children’, ‘parents’, ‘maintenance’, ‘welfare’ and ‘senior citizens’, to enable parents and senior citizens to lead a life of dignity;
(b) enlarge the mode of submission of application for maintenance by the parents or senior citizens;
(c) provide for expeditious disposal of maintenance applications with special preference to the applications of senior citizens above eighty years of age, so as to enable parents or senior citizens to receive necessary relief;
(d) remove the upper limit of rupees ten thousand as monthly maintenance amount that may be awarded by the Tribunal;
(e) extend the right to file appeal to children and relatives also who are aggrieved by the order of the Maintenance Tribunal, if they continue to pay the maintenance amount as ordered by the Maintenance Tribunal;
(f) provide for registration of Senior Citizens’ Care Homes, Multi-Service Day Care Centre for Senior Citizens and Institutions providing Homecare Services for Senior Citizens and their minimum standards;
(g) constitute Special Police Unit for Senior Citizens in each district and appoint Nodal Officers for Senior Citizens in every Police Station;
(h) maintain Helpline for senior citizens; and
(i) provide stringent punishment to those who abuse or abandon parents or senior citizens
The proposed legislation seeks to bring a strong and robust data protection framework for India and to set up an Authority for protecting personal data and empowering the citizens’ with rights relating to their personal data ensuring their fundamental right to “privacy and protection of personal data”.
The upgradation of three Deemed to be Universities in Sanskrit, namely, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Delhi, Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Triputi into Central Universities through the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 would enhance the status of these Universities and will give a boost to Post Graduate, Doctoral and Post Doctoral education and Research in the field of Sanskrit and Shastraic education.
