The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that seeks to link electoral rolls to Aadhaar number has been passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday, amidst continued protests from Opposition members. It is listed for consideration and passing in the list of Legislative Business for the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill allows electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers of applicants wanting to register as voters to establish the identity of the applicant. Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, clarified that linking of Aadhar to Electoral Photo Identity Card is voluntary.

It also seeks to allow the officers to ask for the number from “persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in electoral roll, and to identify registration of name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency”.

Here are the latest updates:

Rajya Sabha | 11-12 am

Chairman informs the House that the Business Advisory Committee has allotted time for government business – the consideration and passing of Election Laws (Amendment) bill as passed by Lok Sabha.

Rajya Sabha | 11-09 am

Motions for election to the Tea Board and for election to committee on welfare of other backward classes are adopted.

Lok Sabha | 11-05 am

The Lower House is entertaining questions concerning cultivation of spices.

11-02 am

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha resume

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha resume their proceedings for the seventeenth day of the winter session.

Papers are being laid on the table in Rajya Sabha. Question Hour begins in Lok Sabha.

10-14 am

Legislative Business for December 21, 2021 is as follows:

Lok Sabha:

1. The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for consideration and passing.

Rajya Sabha:

1. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 for consideration and passing.

2. The Appropriation (No.5) Bill, 2021 for consideration and return.

Date | Time

₹13,109 cr recovered from economic fugitives: Finance Minister

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday informed the Lok Sabha that banks have recovered ₹13,109.17 crore by selling the assets of fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

The Minister’s comments came during her reply to a discussion on the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants which was passed by the Lok Sabha by a voice vote.

The discussion on the Supplementary Demands for Grants, authorising the government to spend an additional ₹3.73 lakh crore during the current fiscal, concluded last week.

10-15 am

Government not allowing discussion on important issues in Parliament: Rahul

Accusing the government of not allowing a discussion on important issues, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Union Government is responsible to run Parliament and not the Opposition.

“They are attacking democracy. There is a non-stop attack on democracy and that is why we are fighting here,” Mr. Gandhi told reporters, adding that the Narendra Modi government was not allowing any debate on price rise, Ladakh, minimum support price (MSP) and Lakhimpur Kheri violence among other issues.

Mr. Gandhi had given a notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the issue of the “statehood and inclusion of Ladakh in Schedule VI of Consitution”.

However, the issue couldn’t be taken up as the Lok Sabha witnessed multiple adjournments over the Opposition’s demand to sack Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni because of his alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

10-02 am

Day 16 recap

Lok Sabha passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amidst unrelenting protests from the Opposition members. Both the Houses witnessed Opposition protests throughout the day on Monday. In the Lok Sabha, Opposition members called for discussions on various issues, including the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, in which Ashish Mishra, son of Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, is the prime accused.

‘The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ was moved in the Rajya Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman amidst continued protests by Opposition MPs. And even as the Chair asked the members to speak on the subject, many Opposition MPs continued raising the matter of suspension of 12 of their colleagues as well as their demand of removal of Mr. Mishra.

During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, questions concerning Mid-Day Meal schemes, conservation of monuments, conservation of forests, social security benefits for gig and platform workers, and opportunities for overseas jobs for the youth of the country were entertained.