Railways amendment bill referred to standing committee

The government Monday agreed to refer to a standing committee a bill that seeks to amend the Railways Act by changing the definition of "accidental falling".

During a discussion on the bill in the Lok Sabha, member after member demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee.

Following this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said: "If members have apprehension, there is no problem with us. It is not an ideological issue".

"If there are some serious concerns, then I suggest that the bill go to the parliamentary standing committee," he said.

Railways Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said: "If the house feels that this needs to be sent to the standing committee, I will do that".

The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2014, seeks to provide clarity on "accidental falling" from trains to curb misuse of existing provisions and also prevent false claims.

The government also introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to include, as well as exclude, certain communities from the list of scheduled castes.

The bill seeks to bring certain modifications in the SC list in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkim.

Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014.