Waqf Amendment Bill: The Joint Parliamentary Committee of Parliament (JPC) has approved amendment to the Waqf Bill. In which 14 amendments introduced by the BJP -led NDA government have been approved. At the same time, all the recommendations given by the opposition have been rejected. A total of 67 proposals were submitted. In which 23 changes were presented by BJP MPs and 44 recommendations from the opposition.
Every clause was discussed in the JPC meeting held at 11 am today on the Waqf Bill Amendment. JPC President Jagdambika Pal acknowledged all the 14 amendments proposed by the NDA, saying, ‘The amendments made by the committee will make the law better and more effective. At the same time, the opposition criticized this bill and accused it of ruining the process of democracy. For the last six months, 44 amendments were being discussed. Amendments were sought from all members. In today’s last meeting, 14 amendments were approved by majority. While 10 votes have been rejected in support of the amendments suggested by the opposition and 16 in protest.
The decision on 14 amendments presented in the proposal will be finalized on 29 January. Later the final report will be presented on 31 January. Earlier, JPC was directed to submit a final report on the issue on 29 November. But later the deadline was increased to 13 February. The JPC suspended 10 opposition MPs after complaining that they did not get enough time to study the amendments introduced in the Waqf Amendment Bill. The biggest critics of the bill include Kalyan Banerjee of Trinamool Congress and Owaisi of AIMIM.
