Present Lok Sabha witnesses rise in number of bills referred to joint panels

New Delhi: The Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Amendment Bill has become the 17th draft law to be referred to a joint committee of Parliament by the Narendra Modi government since 2014, according to data.

The 18th Lok Sabha has seen a sharp rise in bills being sent to joint committees of the two Houses.

So far, nine bills have been referred to joint panels since the present Lok Sabha was formed in 2024, according to available statistics.


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Comparatively, four bills each were sent to joint committees during the 16th and 17th Lok Sabhas.

The 17 bills have involved 14 joint panel exercises, because some were referred together to the same committee.

Such 'companion' bills seek to achieve the same purpose together.

For example, the bill to lay down a legal framework to hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was accompanied by a bill to implement the proposed law in Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir - the three Union territories with legislative assemblies.

Such bills are called companion bills.

The major referrals during the 18th Lok Sabha include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, two One Nation, One Election Bills, three bills concerning removal of ministers upon detention, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, and now the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Amendment Bill.

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In the first two terms of Modi, four bills were referred to joint parliamentary committees (JPCs) in each.

Some were enacted, the others were withdrawn or lapsed, according to data available on the Lok Sabha website and with PRS India, a legislative think tank.

Joint committees of the two Houses and select committees of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha are set up to examine a particular bill and are disbanded after they submit their reports.