Centre draws attention of ministries to 18 bills pending in Rajya Sabha for long

The Centre has listed over 18 bills pending in the Rajya Sabha as an area of concern and flagged them to the ministries concerned for “suitable decisions”. The issue is also learnt to have been taken up at the meeting of the Council of Ministers with the PM on July 14.

People in the know told ET that the parliamentary affairs ministry had written to all ministries on Thursday on the pending bills, besides the issue of assurances and due process to be followed during the monsoon session that begins on Monday.

“Suitable decisions need to be taken on the long-pending bills in Rajya Sabha pertaining to your department,” the parliamentary affairs ministry said in a memorandum issued on Thursday.


The government can either go ahead with the pending bills or seek their withdrawal on the ground that it does not wish to proceed with them, or that new comprehensive bills are being brought in instead, or if some proposals in them have been dropped.

Among the 18 bills are several that have been pending for years, and a few, such as the 79th amendment to the Constitution on reservation extension, for decades. Among these are three from the law ministry.

The pending bills include the Readjustment of Representations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Bill, 2013 and the Seeds Bill, 2004.

The pending Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants), Bill, 2014 — planned to fully address the issue of illegal occupation of waqf properties and provide for a faster mechanism — is on the watch list for suitable action.

The larger pendency, however, is of assembly seats - several of which have fallen vacant either due to Covid deaths or resignations on account of being elected to another House.

The ECI is moving cautiously due to the pandemic and will proceed case by case.

In May, it deferred polls to the parliamentary constituencies of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Bypolls have also been postponed to eight assembly constituencies: Kalka and Ellenabad (Haryana), Vallabhnagar (Rajasthan), Sindgi (Karnataka), Rajabala and Mawryngkneng (Meghalaya), Fatehpur (Himachal Pradesh) and Badvel (Andhra Pradesh).

The Pipili bypoll in Odisha had to be deferred twice amid the pandemic.

Bypolls are needed for at least seven seats in West Bengal - three seats fell vacant due to the death of candidates while four have been vacated.

In Kerala, Jose K Mani's resignation necessitated a by-election to the Rajya Sabha.

Three RS vacancies have arisen in Tamil Nadu – while AIADMK member A Mohammedjan passed away, MPs R Vaithilingam and K P Munusamy have been elected to the state assembly in the recent elections.

A RS seat has fallen vacant in Maharashtra due to the death of Congress’ Rajeev Satav, and another in Assam due to the resignation of BJP’s Biswajit Daimary. Two seats have fallen vacant from West Bengal following the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi and Manas Bhunia.