Monsoon session: Govt skips women's quota, delimitation in 5-Bill slate

Government's legislative agenda includes a Bill to make insulting or obstructing the singing of Vande Mataram punishable, along with amendments to MSME and income-tax laws

The government on Thursday listed five new Bills for introduction during the monsoon session of Parliament, including one to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, which seeks to make any insult or obstruction to the singing of the national song Vande Mataram a punishable offence.

 

The tentative legislative agenda, however, made no mention of a Constitution amendment Bill to implement a 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha (LS) and state Assemblies by 2029, or the accompanying delimitation Bill to increase the number of LS seats. The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was defeated in the LS during the extended Budget session on April 17.

 

 

Bharatiya Janata Party sources said the government would introduce a fresh Bill on the issue and has reached out to parties that opposed the earlier legislation. The government may include a provision to increase the number of LS seats for all states by 50 per cent to address concerns raised by southern states over delimitation.

 

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party was in touch with all Opposition parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Aam Aadmi Party, which had voted together to defeat the delimitation-related Constitution amendment Bill. He said the government would not be able to secure a two-thirds majority in the LS.

 

Senior Congress leaders, including party President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, met at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday to discuss the party’s strategy for the session. Ramesh said any two-thirds majority achieved by the government would be “tainted”.

 

The government’s legislative agenda also includes the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to make delayed registration provisions under Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, “more stringent”.

 

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development (Amendment) Bill seeks to line up the 2006 Act with the evolving MSME landscape, improve ease of doing business, strengthen mechanisms for addressing delayed payments, and enable enforcement of arbitral awards for micro and small enterprises.

 

The monsoon session will begin on July 20 and continue until August 13. Two Bills — the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill — will replace ordinances.

 

The Income-tax Bill seeks to attract global capital inflows by exempting foreign investors from income tax on interest earnings and capital gains from investments in government securities.

 

The government has also listed the consideration and passage of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, to be taken up after the committee reports are tabled.

 

The Opposition is expected to raise issues including alleged theft of donations at Ayodhya’s Ram temple, paper leaks, deaths of Indian sailors in the West Asia conflict, and ethanol blending in petrol. A joint committee of Parliament is also likely to adopt a report on a Constitution amendment Bill seeking the removal of the prime minister, Union ministers, and chief ministers from office if detained for 30 consecutive days on serious charges.