Nine bills passed, on last day of Haryana Vidhan Sabha budget session

Babushahi Bureau 

Chandigarh, February 28, 2024 - During the last day of the budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha today, nine bills were passed. These include the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2024, The Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2024, The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Private Coaching Institutes Bill, 2024, The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Amendment Bill, 2024, the Haryana Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2024, the Haryana Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2024, The Haryana Honourable Disposal of Dead Body Bill, 2024, The Haryana State Sports Associations (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2024, The Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2024.

The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2024

The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2024 aims to establish a framework to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity of travel agents, and to investigate and regulate their illegal and fraudulent activities to protect the interests of the residents of Haryana. 

The unscrupulous and unregistered travel agents deceive such persons by promising them easy and quick immigration to foreign countries. These agents promise to arrange work visas, work permits, study visa through Offer Letter from Universities and Colleges in foreign countries, but in many cases, they fail to deliver on their promises.

 In many cases, these agents provide fake Offer Letters and sometimes even form fake or unrecognized Universities or Colleges. They charge exorbitant fees and demand huge amount of money at different stages. 

Many a time, these agents send innocent persons to foreign countries illegally and such persons are caught and put behind bars by the police of those countries, therefore, there is a dire need to curb the illegal activities of such travel agents.

In the interest of public at large, a legislation i.e. 'The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2024' to provide for measures to check and monitor the unlawful and fraudulent activities of travel agents and to provide a mechanism to punish such wrong doers as per law and for matters connected therewith and incidental, is necessary."

The Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2024

The Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority Bill, 2024 has been passed to develop a vision for the continued, sustained and balanced growth of the Hisar Metropolitan Area through quality of life and reasonable standard of living provided to residents through generation of employment opportunities, to provide for integrated and coordinated planning, infrastructure development and provision of urban amenities, mobility management, sustainable management of the urban environment and social, economic and industrial development, to redefine the urban governance and delivery structure in coordination with local authorities in the context of the emergence of Hisar as a rapidly expanding urban agglomeration, to establish a statutory Authority for the said purpose and for matters connected therewith or incidental or consequential matters.

The rapid growth of the Hisar Metropolitan Area and its emergence as a nucleus for economic development has thrown up challenges in urban governance' infrastructure deficit, decentralized decision making, and independently created townships that, if ignored, can affect the quality of life and wellbeing of the citizens of Hisar. 

This growth has led to gaps in integrated urban planning and infrastructure development. The emergence of Hisar as a metropolitan city has brought about problems of mobility and sustainability of the urban environment that goes beyond the limits of the legally defined city limits'.

The existing legal architecture for governance of the Hisar Metropolitan Area has several shortcomings that need to be addressed. Need has been felt for a coordinated and integrated development structure with smooth interface between various departments so as to avoid overlap in the functional and operational responsibilities besides functional empowerment in administrative and financial structures at the local level.

After a study of different models of Metropolitan Development Authorities in India, a new legal structure for coordinated and integrated urban governance through establishment of Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority has been envisaged.

Hisar Metropolitan Development Authority is proposed to develop a vision for the continued, sustained and balanced growth of the Hisar Metropolitan Area through quality of life and reasonable standard of living provided to residents, to provide for integrated and coordinated planning, infrastructure development and provision of urban amenities, mobility management, sustainable management of the urban environment and social, economic and industrial development' It shall endeavour to redefine urban governance and delivery structure in coordination with local authorities in the context of the emergence of Hisar as a rapidly expanding urban agglomeration.

The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Private Coaching Institutes Bill, 2024

The Haryana Registration and Regulation of Private Coaching Institutes Bill, 2024 has been passed to register and regulate private coaching institutes providing coaching for competitive examinations in higher studies, jobs, and professional courses. being a welfare State, is taking various welfare measures for students, teachers and ail others stakeholders in the field of education. 

Over the past few years, the State Government has addressed the core issues in education namely access, equity, quality, relevance and excellence. It has been observed that competition in Education, Higher Education and jobs has risen manifold times over the past decade or so. 

This has resulted in the setting up of coaching centres all over the country. It has been felt that there is a need to bring a law for the registration and regulation of Private Coaching Institutions in Haryana so as to safeguard the interest of students and their guardians, to reduce stress among students enrolled in the Coaching Institutes and to provide better academic support to them in preparation of different competitive examinations and admissions into specialised institutions.

The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Amendment Bill, 2024

The Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Educational Institutions) Amendment Bill, 2024 has been passed to further amend the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016. The Government of India included seven castes i.e. Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Hari, Thori, Turi and Rai Sikh in the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 vide notification gazette No. 27 dated May 09, 2016 on recommendation No. 568-SW (1) 2014 dated July 28, 2014 of the State Government.

While including these castes in the List of Scheduled Castes, the Government of India also deleted these castes from the Central List of Other Backward Classes for Haryana vide notification no. 12011/15/2016-BC-II dated June 30, 2016 as the Lists of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes are mutually exclusive and any caste cannot be found in the List of Scheduled Castes as well as that of Backward Classes at the same point of time. 

Once these castes have been included in the Constitution Schedule Castes order, same are liable to be deleted from the Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A' of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016 (Haryana Act No, 15 of 2016).

Therefore, the castes Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Naik, Thori or Turi, Hari at serial number I in Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A' of the Act shall be replaced with the word 'Naik" and "Rai Sikh" at Serial number 50 shall be replaced with the word "Omitted" with effect from June 30, 2016 as the Government of India has also deleted these castes from the Other Backward Classes List of Haryana from the same date. The Council of Ministers in its meeting dated January O3, 2O24 has approved the proposal of the Department regarding deletion of name of seven castes i.e. Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Hari, Turi or Thori from Sr. no. 1 and omission of Rai Sikh caste from Sr.no. 50 from Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A'.

Similarly, in the same List, there is an entry of castes "Joginath, Jogi, Nath, Jangam-Jogi, Yogi" at Sr. no 31. The Council of Ministers in its meeting held on January 03, 2024 decided that these entries at Sr. no. 31 should be substituted as "Joginath, Jogi, Nath, Jangam, Yogi".

In the aforementioned Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A', there is an entry of castes namely Hajjam, Nai, Nais, Sain at Serial No. 29. 'Nais' Caste was added in the List vide Letter dated 13th December, 1956. Hajjam and Nai Castes were added in the List vide letter dated 9th/23rd December, 1959. 'Sain' Caste was also included in the List vide Notification dated 07-06-1995 on the basis of recommendations made by the Haryana Backward Class Commission in the Report submitted in the year 1995.

Now, the Haryana Backward Classes Commission on representation of Sain Samaj has recommended vide letter No. HBCC/2024/101 dated January 23, 2024 that 'Sain' caste be removed from entry no. 29 and be inducted as a separate entry in the Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A' of the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016 (Haryana Act No. 15 of 2016). The Council of Ministers in its meeting held on January 30, 2024 has approved the proposal of the department regarding removal of 'Sain' caste from Sr. no. 29 of the Schedule-I List of Backward Classes Block-'A' and its introduction at Sr. no. 72.

Haryana Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2024

The Haryana Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2024 has been passed to authorize the appropriation of a total of Rs. 4771,27,32,000 from the consolidated fund of the state of Haryana for payments and appropriations during the financial year 2023-24 for services, which will end on the thirty first day of March, 2024.

Haryana Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2024

The Haryana Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2024 has been passed to authorize the appropriation of a total of Rs. 237184,86,60,286 from the consolidated fund of the state of Haryana for payments and appropriations during the financial year 2024-25 for services, which will end on the thirty first day of March, 2025.

The Haryana State Sports Associations (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2024

The Haryana State Sports Associations (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2024 has been passed to establish the Haryana Sports Registration Council and Regional Sports Registration Council for registration and regulation of Sports Associations, to protect interest of sportspersons and sports associations and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Government has taken a serious note of the fact that some of the sports associations working at district and state level are indulging in unfair practices that are prejudicial to the interest of sports and sportspersons. Such sports associations neither maintain proper records nor have requisite transparency. The State Government feels legally constrained to regulate such matters in the absence of any specific laws.

The purpose of the Haryana State Sports Association (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2024 is to establish regulatory bodies at both the state and regional levels to oversee the registration and regulation of working of these sports associations. The primary objective is to safeguard the interests of sportspersons and the sports while promoting the spirit of sportsmanship in the state.

This bill attempts to establish the Haryana Sports Registration Council and Regional Sports Registration Council, which will be responsible for registering sports associations, regulating their activities, and advising the state government. Additionally, these councils will have the authority to investigate complaints against sports associations and their officials to ensure compliance with impartial sports practices.

The bill seeks to establish the Haryana Sports Registration Council and Regional Sports Registration Council, which will be responsible for registering sports associations, regulating their working and advising the State Government. Additionally, these councils will have the authority to inquire into complaints against the sports association and its office bearer in order to ensure adherence to fair sports practices.

The Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2024

The Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2024 has been passed to amend the Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provisions) Act, 2017.

In the Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provision) Act, 2017 (Haryana Act No. 28 of 2017), the objects are to make special provisions to consolidate left out pockets of land for setting up a project and for the matters connected there with or incidental thereto. The principal Act was amended by the Haryana Consolidation of Project Land (Special Provisions) Amendment Act, 2020 (Haryana Act No. 15 of 2020) and Section 3 of the principal Act was substituted by inserting the words or has taken on lease' before the words 'seventy percent'. However, various CWPs have been filed on inserting this provision of land to be taken on lease as well, by the State or its agency, while counting seventy percent or more project land under its ownership. Accordingly, to avoid repeated litigation and by taking a harmonious view, it has been felt necessary to restore the original provision of section 3 by deleting the words "or has taken on lease" before the word 'seventy percent' by completely substituting the ibid section in the principal Act.

The Haryana Honourable Disposal of Dead Body Bill, 2024

The Haryana Honourable Disposal of Dead Body Bill, 2024 has been passed to amend the Haryana Honourable Disposal of Dead Body Act, 2017, in order to maintain the fundamental human rights related to the dignity of the deceased and for the dignified final disposal of dead bodies, as well as for matters related and incidental thereto.

Under Article 21 of the Constitution of India includes within its ambit, 'the rights and dignity of the dead'. The right to dignity and fair treatment under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is not only available to a living man but also to his body after his death. Honor and respect for the dead is recognition of human dignity. Keeping in view the right and dignity of a dead person, nobody should be allowed to raise any demand or bait for pursuing any demands by way of any protest or agitation by not performing the timely last rites of a dead body.

This bill, titled the “The Haryana Honourable Disposal of Dead Body Bill, 2024” ' to provide for decent and timely last rites of a dead body and, in case of family members disowning a dead body and thereby depriving it of last rites, performance of last rites by the public authority and for matters connected therewith or incidental. Therefore, this bill is presented.