Committee on Private Members’ Bills & Resolutions

Introduction 

The primary objective of the private members of the Parliament is to draw the attention of the government regarding the gaps in the conventional legal framework of the government. In this context, Legislative Intervention is required for the private members. The drafting of this committee depends on the private members themselves. This committee also demands that their time allocation should not be reduced. In the case of any national significance, this time allocation issue can be considered.

Notice of Private members’ Bill 

Any private members who are intended to present a bill to the parliament should give notice first. In the case of any leave or motion of the bill, a maximum of one month’s leave consideration will be allotted to the private members. This will be effective only after the consent of the chairman. In 1997, one private member was allowed to represent a maximum of three bills in the Rajya Sabha. However, the number of pending bills was increased in the Rajya Sabha after this activity. As a result, very few bills were coming to the Rajya Sabha setting for the discussion session. The Chairman had put a restriction on the certain number of bills that can only be presented to the Rajya Sabha. There is no rule for rejecting the bills of private members by the Rajya Sabha. There is no restriction for the bill introduction. However, if the bill is pending in any house, the members may not support that bill.  

Drafting of the Private Members’ Bill

As mentioned above, the responsibility of the drafting process is up to the private members of the parliament. The Rajya Sabha also helps the creator of the bills for not being rejected. However, in the case of any rejection of the honourable President, the bill may get rejected. Before approving the bills, the Rajya Sabha justified the bills with the consideration of the Constitution of India. In the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament, the bill is justified by the Chairman. The bill of the private members seeks the amendment of the Indian Constitution before its introduction. After that, the bill is sent to the different houses for consideration. Then the considered draft bill is printed for sending to each member of Rajya Sabha. 

Facts about the Private Member’s Bill

Both the ruling and opposition parties of the Parliament have the right to introduce a private member bill. The private member bill should be passed in both houses to become an act. After the approval of the bill from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the bill must be approved by the honourable President to become an act. 

Examples of Private member’s bills

The unemployment Allowance bill comes under the Private Members’ bill. This bill seeks an adequate allowance for the unemployed people of the country. The bill related to financial assistance for the unemployed graduates is also considered as the private members’ bill. Another relevant bill is the Unemployed Youth Bill 2019. This represents the employment opportunities for the country’s youth and unemployment allowances. 

 Success rate of a private member’s bills

It is evident in history that no private bill has been passed from the parliament since the year 1970. Some bills were passed from the Parliament before 1968. It did not affect the private members to present their bill to the parliament. For instance, the Lok Sabha had introduced 200 private bills for the introduction part. The discussion of these bills was conducted through the ballot. The Committee on Private Members Bills and Resolution define that the bills will be considered as per their importance, nature and urgency. 

Function of the Committee on Private Members’ Bills & Resolutions

The main function of the committee is to justify the Private Member bill after being introduced. The commit will check the bill before it is taken into consideration. This committee recommended the actual time for discussing the private bill. This committee also proposes the time for the resolution and other ancillary matters. 

Private members bill and Government bill

The private members’ bill is quite different from the government bill in India. The private members’ bill is proposed by a non-minister member of the Parliament. An individual MP of the parliament has the right to introduce a private bill. In contradiction, the Government bill is backed by the Government. The Government bill also addresses the legislative agenda. The Government bill reflects the policies of the ruling party of the country. The private bills reflect the condition and activities of political parties. The chance of passing the government bill is high. The chance of passing the private bill is comparatively low.  

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that a private member bill is being introduced by a member who is not a minister in the legislation. As a result, the name has been accredited to differentiate the bills from the government bills which are being introduced by the members of Lok Sabha.