New Delhi, November 16 (IANS): The nearly month-long winter session of Parliament beginning November 18 will see over 35 legislations taken up, including the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which amends the definition of illegal migrant, and the Personal Data Protection Bill.
The session, which will end on December 13, will see a total of 20 sittings.
Currently, there are 43 bills pending in Parliament. Of these, 12 Bills are listed for consideration and passing and seven are listed for withdrawal. Twenty-seven Bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passing.
The Central government is likely to push for passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to amend The Citizenship Act, 1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India.
The bill is a key BJP plank which is aimed at granting nationality to non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries.
Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the requirements for citizenship was that the applicant must have resided in India in the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.
Now the amendment relaxes the second requirement -- Afrom 11 years to six years.
The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure but could not push it through due to vehement protests by opposition parties. The bill had lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha.
The Bill is likely to be introduced afresh in the winter session. It will have to be passed by both Houses in order to become a law.
There has been strong opposition to the bill in Assam and other northeastern states.
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