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A view of the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday, June 24, 2019. (PTI)[/caption]
New Delhi, June 24 (IANS/PTI): A bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 and a bill to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar as an identity proof for opening bank accounts and procuring mobile phone connections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
A bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 was introduced, paving the way for people living near the International Border to get benefits of reservation in jobs, promotion and educational institutions.
The legislation will replace the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019.
Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy introduced the bill on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah who was also present in the house.
The bill will bring same benefits to the people living near the IB as those near the Line of Control (LoC), after they were kept out of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act 2004 and Rules 2005.
"Due to continuous cross border tensions, persons living along the International Border suffer from socio-economic and educational backwardness," said the government in a statement on the reasons for introduction of the bill.
"This situation often compels departure of these residents to other safer places thereby having an adverse impact on their economic condition and educational status."
Amit Shah, in a written statement, said that the President issued a proclamation on December 19, 2018 under Article 356 of the Constitution declaring that the powers of the legislature of the state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament.
He said the legislation will meet the long-pending demand of the people living near the border.
A bill to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar will amend the Aadhaar Act 2016 was also intropduces amid opposition.
The Bill replace an ordinance issued in March.
It also proposes stiff penalties for violation of norms.
Opposing the bill, RSP MP NK Premchandaran said it was a "grave violation" of the Supreme Court's judgement on Aaadhar.
He claimed private entities can get hold of Aadhaar data and violate fundamental rights especially the Right of Privacy.
Responding to him, Union Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Aadhaar is a valid law, it is in national interest and doesn't violate privacy.
He said so far more than 60 crore people have taken mobile sim cards through Aadhaar and now it is not mandatory.
Suggesting the bill is in line with the apex court judgement, Prasad said people of India have accepted Aadhaar.
The bill proposes to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar number for authentication and identity proof in opening of bank accounts and procuring of mobile phone connections.
The Bill also seeks to give a child an option to exit from the biometric ID programme on attaining 18 years of age, while stipulating stiff penalties for violation of norms set for use of Aadhaar and violation of privacy.
The move is aimed at making Aadhaar people-friendly.
It also paves the way for use of alternative virtual identity number to conceal actual Aadhaar number of an individual.
The bill also proposes deletion of section 57 of the Aadhaar Act relating to use of biometric identifier by private entities.
This amendment will also prevent denial of services for refusing to, or being unable to, undergo authentication.
Besides this, the proposed amendments provide for establishment of Unique Identification Authority of India Fund and confers enhanced regulator-like power on the UIDAI.
The changes proposed in the bill also include a civil penalty of up to INR 1 crore on entities that violate provisions of the Aadhaar Act, with an additional fine of up to INR 10 lakh per day in case of continuous non-compliance.
Similarly, unauthorised use of identity information by a requesting entity or offline verification seeking entity would be punishable with imprisonment of up to three years with a fine that may extend to INR 10,000 or in case of a company with a fine of up to INR 1 lakh.
Punishment for unauthorised access to Central Identities Data Repository as well as data tampering is proposed to be extended to 10 years each from the current three years.
The Union Cabinet is learnt to have approved a proposal to amend two laws to give more teeth to the NIA in probing terror cases in India and abroad, sources said on Monday.
Separate bills will be introduced in Parliament in the coming days to amend the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, they said.
The amendments will also allow the NIA probe cybercrimes and cases of human trafficking, sources aware of the proposal said.
Amendment to Schedule 4 of the UAPA will allow the NIA to designate an individual suspected to have terror links as a terrorist. As of now, only organisations are designated as 'terrorist organisations'.
The NIA was set up in 2009 in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack that had claimed 166 lives.
Since 2017, the Union Home Ministry has been considering the two laws to give more power to the NIA to meet fresh challenges, the sources pointed out.
Another proposal to introduce a bill to extend the facility of proxy voting to overseas Indians could not be taken up Monday.
A similar bill had lapsed following the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha last month.
"The agenda of the Law Ministry stands postponed," a functionary said.
As of now, overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies they are registered.
The Bill seeks to give them the option of proxy voting, which is as of now available to service personnel only.
Another proposal to amend the Representation of the People Act related to the spouses of service voters could not be taken up on Monday.
As of now, an armyman's wife is entitled to be enrolled as a service voter, but a woman army officer's husband is not, according to the provisions in the electoral law.
The bill proposes to replace the term 'wife' with 'spouse', thus making the provision gender-neutral. Members of the armed forces, central armed police forces, personnel of state police forces posted outside their state and employees of the Centre posted outside India are eligible to be enrolled as service voters.