This bill follows guidelines issued by the home ministry which stated that playing/singing national song should also be made compulsory along with playing national anthem Jana Gana Mana at all the official functions.
Some other bills are being planned for introduction in Lok Sabha which includes bills related to making the registration of births and deaths delayed to be stringent.
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The Prevention of insults to national honour act, once passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, would turn out to be an offence which would make insulting the national song punishable under this act. Thereby turning it into another symbol of the republic like others such as the national anthem, the national flag and our constitution. An act whose insults attract criminal action.
The BJP has maintained that previous ‘secular’ governments failed to grant appropriate recognition to Vande Mataram, a part of the freedom struggle which featured the Hindu image in its composition — because they gave way to objections raised by a segment of Muslim community. There were recent incidents when the hymn was alleged not to get due reverence at the hands of state governments led by opposition parties or groups representing the minority communities.
The proposed legislation’s definition of what constitutes an insult is crucial in this case, since there have already been several cases relating to the slighting of Vande before the courts.
Delimitation & Women Reservation in Lok Sabha asks for intense speculation amidst many rumours around whether government may bring back bill for delimitation and implementing of reservation for women in Lok Sabha and assemblies from 2029 following a united opposition which sank it in last session.
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But amidst all the muzzling around other legislations too, the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s statement on bills to be introduced didn’t even make a mention of it. This despite widespread expectations of the government bringing back the legislation, now over three years old, for delimitation and implementation of women’s reservation in LS and assemblies from 2029. The bill could be introduced only after clearance from the cabinet, says an official source. Its timing shall be worked out during the session.
The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, cleared by Cabinet Tuesday proposes that births and deaths that have been reported but not yet registered within a span of two years would now require the approval of a first-class judicial magistrate for registration, rather than an approval sought from the District Magistrate (DM), Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) or executive magistrate as previously mandated.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill will receive its sanction with a Parliament’s nod to the ordinance increasing the strength of judges in the SC from 33 to 37. Other prominent bills include the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha (LS) during its last session and subject to strong backlash from the Opposition over its perceived focus on limiting funding of NGOs, especially those associated with Christian bodies, as well as the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, proposed to overhaul higher education regulation, currently under scrutiny of a parliamentary panel.
