Winter session: PM Modi likely to interact with media today

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to interact with the media on Wednesday ahead of the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament. The winter session of the Parliament will begin today and continue till December 29. The session will have a total of 17 working days.

The BJP-led Central government's agenda for the winter session of Parliament includes 16 new bills.

The Lok Sabha will pay tributes to members who passed away during the inter-session period, on the first day. Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who passed away in October after a prolonged illness, will be among the departed members to be remembered.

This will be the inaugural session where Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar will officiate proceedings in the Rajya Sabha as the ex-officio chairman of the Upper House.

Some of the bills slated for introduction in the Winter Session of Parliament are the Trade Marks (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022.

The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2022 will seek to repeal redundant and obsolete laws. Some of the other bills include the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the National Dental Commission Bill, 2022.

The government's agenda also includes Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill, 2019, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9, 2019, and was referred to the Standing Committee on External Affairs. The report was presented on February 11 this year.

Earlier on Tuesday, an all-party meeting, chaired by Defence Minister and deputy leader of the Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh, was held on the Parliament premises.

At the all-party meeting both Congress, as well as Trinamool Congress (TMC), raised the issue of rampant unemployment, Congress further raised the issue of the hurried-up appointment of the ECI and EWS quota.

Congress raised the issue of price rise and misuse of central agencies by the sitting government. Parties also asked for more time to be given to the Opposition and that their voices should not be muzzled.

The Biju Janata Dal raised the need to have a discussion on the Women Reservation Bill.

A number of other parties supported this. The Rajya Sabha Secretariat, meanwhile, released a Code of Conduct for its members, a day of the Winter session. The monsoon session of Parliament was held between July 18 and August 8.