Winter Session of Parliament: Citizenship Bill on agenda

New Delhi, Nov 16: The Parliament has been informed that an amendment to the Citizenship Act would be taken up during the winter session of Parliament.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill is aimed at giving citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This figures in the tentative list of 35 bills that the parliamentary affairs ministry has sent to the legislative branch of the Lok Sabha.

The winter session of Parliament begins on Monday and would go on until December 13. The Congress has already said that it would oppose the Bill if it comes up in the House.

On Saturday, Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla would meet with leaders of various parties and discuss the legislative agenda with the Opposition. Birla would make it clear that decorum should be maintained and leaders should refrain from jumping into the well of the House.

The first session of Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in as PM for a second term was an eventful one. It was in that session that the decision to abrogate Article 370 was taken. The clearance of the landmark triple talaq bill also took place in that session. It has been dubbed as the most productive session since independence.

During the winter session of Parliament, the government is also likely to bring the Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill to simplify the amendment process. Another important bill would be the Personal Data Protection Bill. This is aimed at protecting the personal data of citizens and also facilitate the growth of the digital economy.