The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a resolution extending the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, till the last day of the Budget Session next year.
JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal moved the motion, "I would like to move that this House do extend the time for the presentation of the Report of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, up to the last day of the Budget Session, 2025."
The motion was accepted through a voice vote.
Speaking to IANS, Pal emphasized the importance of the extension.
"We brought in a motion to extend the tenure of the JPC, and the House cleared it with a voice vote. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju noted that this extension addresses the demand made by the Opposition for greater discussions on the Bill," he said.
The JPC Chairman had declared that he was looking for an extension for the tenure of the panel after the Opposition staged a walkout from the meeting of the Committee on Wednesday.
The Opposition stormed out of the meeting, claiming that the procedures were not being followed and the Chairman of the panel was agreeable to submitting a report on November 29, although they had sought Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to increase the term of the committee.
Criticising the opposition, Pal said, "This extension disproves all these claims made by opposition that the government does not desire a detailed discussion and seeks to bulldoze their voice, and proves that we want a detailed discussion."
The Bill is supposed to reform the management and regulation of the Waqf properties throughout the country, which had been deferred due to heated debates and disruptions within the JPC -- between ruling BJP members and the Opposition leaders.
The Centre placed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on August 8 and referred it to the JPC after the Opposition opposed it. It directed the panel to submit a report by the end of the first week of the Winter Session.
The committee consists of 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha, in addition to 13 opposition members, nine from the Lok Sabha and four from the Rajya Sabha.
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