Lok Sabha passed a bill that proposes to make university or college as a unit instead of department for the purpose of providing reservation for filling teachers' posts in central education institutions.
The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill 2019, which would allow filling about 8,000 existing vacancies in 41 central universities and also provides 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS), was introduced to replace an ordinance issued in March 2019.
A resolution moved by the Congress leader Adhir Rajan Chowdhury to refer the bill to the standing committee was rejected by the House.
Human Resource Development Minister (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said the bill will give a major push to reforms in the education sector, making it inclusive and fulfilling aspirations of people from different categories.
Describing this bill as beginning of new era in the country's education sector, Nishank said this proposed legislation shows Prime Minister Narendra Modiled government's commitment for the welfare of the last man in the row.
Taking on parties which opposed the bill that seeks to restore the earlier reservation system based on 200-point roster, Nishank said that it exposed their lack of commitment to welfare of backwards in society.
While moving the Bill for passage, the Minister said that it aimed to provide for reservation of posts in appointments by direct recruitment of person belonging to the SC, ST, Socially and Economically Backward Classes and EWS to teachers' cadre in certain Central Education Institution.
UP to Urge Centre to Reopen Saubhagya Scheme
The Uttar Pradesh government decided to request the Centre to reopen the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, also known as Saubhagya Scheme, in the state to give another chance to the poor to get free electricity connection in case they did not get one earlier.
The government would also urge the Centre to allow three more months to complete schemes like the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) to cover the time lost due to Lok Sabha elections.
The Saubhagya Scheme, which sought to provide electricity connection to each and every household, was launched nationally in September 2017.
The scheme closed on March 31, 2019.
Jul 01, 2019
Jal Shakti Abhiyan
The government is set to launch the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, which aims to put in place measures for rainwater harvesting, water conservation and replenishing water bodies, at a time when the Narendra Modi government is turning its attention towards water shortage in various parts of the country.
Teams have been constituted in 254 districts before the launch of the programme, and engineers and technical staff have been placed in 1,539 blocks to take stock of the ground water levels, the state of acquifers, and ponds and water bodies that may have been encroached upon over the last two decades.
Jun 30, 2019
One Nation, One Ration Card
The 'One Nation One Ration Card' scheme, which would allow portability of food security benefits, would be available across the country from July 1, 2020.
This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country, so long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar.
All the States have been given one more year to use point of sale (PoS) machines in the ration shops and implement the scheme.
Already, 77% % of the ration shops across the country have PoS machines and more than 85% of people covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) have their cards linked to Aadhaar.
According to senior Food Ministry officials, while Aadhaar linkage is not necessary to access NFSA benefits in a beneficiary's local registered ration shop, located closest to her home address, it will be necessary to access the portability scheme.
Ten States -- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura – already offer this portability. Delhi had also begun implementing portability, though it was later stopped for technical reasons.
Other States, including Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, could easily implement the scheme, as they had PoS machines in all the ration shops.
Jun 28, 2019
Bill to Amend Special Economic Zones Law
The Rajya Sabha cleared the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019, that seeks to allow trusts to set up units in special economic zones, a day after the Lok Sabha passed the measure.
The Bill would replace the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, promulgated in March.
The Opposition parties had criticised the government for issuing the ordinance, which allowed trusts to open units in the SEZs, just days before the general election was announced.
Lok Sabha Passes Bill on Homoeopathy Council
The Lok Sabha passed the Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which enables the government to extend the tenure of the Board of Governors for a further period of one year with effect from May 17, 2019.
This is the second Bill passed by the newly constituted Lok Sabha and would replace an ordinance issued by the previous NDA government.
Urging the government to re-examine the proposed legislation, the Congress party's leader of the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought to move a statutory resolution that was defeated by a voice vote.
Another Opposition MP, N.K. Premachandaran of the RSP, also unsuccessfully proposed amendments to the Bill.
Jun 27, 2019
Bill Barring Candidates with over 2 Children
The Uttarakhand assembly passed a bill barring people with more than two children from contesting Panchayat, or village council, elections in the state.
The bill also stipulates minimum educational qualifications for Panchayat poll contestants.
General category men would now need to have passed the class 10 examination to contest the village council elections.
People from the scheduled castes and tribes and women can contest the polls if they have cleared their class 8 exam. The bill also prohibits a person from holding two posts in a local body.
The Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Act 2016 (Amendment) Bill was passed with a voice vote on the last day of the state assembly session.
The bill would now be sent to governor Baby Rani Maurya for her approval.