The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014, which was introduced in Lok Sabha yesterday, was referred to the Standing Committee by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today.
This Bill amends The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which prohibits the commission of offences against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and establishes special courts for the trial of such offences and the rehabilitation of victims. The amendment Bill adds new categories of actions by non SCs and STs against SCs or STs to be treated as offences.
The Lok Sabha then undertook a discussion on the General Budget and the Demands for Excess Grants for 2011-2012 today. At the time of sending this diary, the discussion on the budget was ongoing in the Lower House.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned again over the issue of whether the House should undertake a Short Duration Discussion on the unprecedented spurt in violence in Gaza and West Bank area of Palestine.
Meanwhile it has emerged that the 16th Lok Sabha has the highest number of first-time MPs in the last three decades.
Of the 314 first-time MPs elected to the Lower House, 36 made their maiden speech in the first week of the Budget Session. Mr. P.P. Choudhary from Pali constituency in Rajasthan spoke five times in the first week, the most of all first-time MPs in the House.
In all, 97 MPs in total spoke in Lok Sabha in the first week. Some of the issues discussed were price rise, welfare of Indians stranded in Iraq and Syria, the National Institute of Design Bill, power and water crises in the country, the formation of an independent Union Ministry for Himalayan States etc.
