Parliament Winter Session: Lok Sabha passes bill to modernise publishing laws

Lok Sabha in session/ PTI

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023, which aims to overhaul the British-era law governing the publishing industry.

According to the report in PTI, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the bill's passage will streamline the process of registration of the newspapers, and periodicals and shall condense the earlier convoluted eight-step procedure into a user-friendly, single-step mechanism.

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The newly approved bill replaces the archaic Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act of 1867.

Minister Thakur highlighted the effectiveness and ease of use of the revised laws, which, in sharp contrast to the previous time-consuming procedure, enable quick and easy registration for newspapers and periodicals with just a single click.

"This bill is simple, smart and has a simultaneous process for registration of newspapers and periodicals. Earlier newspapers or magazines had to pass through an eight-step registration process. This can now be done at the click of a button," he said.

The bill was passed in Rajya Sabha on August 3.

It is pertinent to note that this bill was passed in the Lower House without amid mass suspension of the Opposition MPs.

The number of MPs suspended on Thursday also rose as three Congress MPs--DK Suresh, Deepak Baij and Nakul Nath--were suspended by the Lok Sabha for the duration of the Winter session for their disruptive behaviour.

As a result, there are now 100 suspended members in the lower House. Pralhad Joshi, the minister of Parliamentary Affairs, made the motion to suspend them, pointing out their misbehaviour in displaying placards and interfering with House business.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla had earlier issued a warning against protesting on House property, which was followed by the suspension. Opposition Members of Parliament continued to demonstrate during Question Hour, despite this, demanding that topics like the security breach in Parliament be discussed and that Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement.

On the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two people broke through security measures by jumping into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour. They shouted slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters before being subdued by a few MPs.