• The government is considering enacting a new legislation to establish an enabling framework that will promote safe, orderly and regular migration for overseas employment.

• This has emerged from a report by the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, which was presented in Parliament.

• The proposal to frame a new law comes at a time when the US has deported 104 illegal Indian immigrants. 

• A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed in Amritsar in Punjab on February 5, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.

Key points of the report:

• The proposed legislation — Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024 — seeks to replace the Emigration Act of 1983 with a view to facilitate the circular mobility of people intending to emigrate for overseas employment.

• The Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs desires establishment of Protector of Emigrants offices in states where such offices do not exist currently and additional offices in “migration hotspots” to ensure better outreach and support for emigrants.

• The Committee said the emigration process in India is governed by the Emigration Act of 1983, administered by the Ministry of External Affairs through the Protector General of Emigrants (PGE).

• Keeping in view the contemporary global migration dynamics and the needs of Indian citizens, the Committee has over the years underscored the pressing need for a comprehensive legislative overhaul to replace the outdated provisions of the Emigration Act, 1983.

• The Protector General of Emigrants (PGE) oversees the functioning of all Protector of Emigrants (PoE) offices across India.

• As of now there are 14 offices of the Protector of Emigrants (PoEs) located at Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Raebareli, Patna, Bengaluru, Guwahati and Ranchi. In order to expand the outreach of the PoEs, the Ministry has established additional PoE offices in Patna, Bengaluru and Guwahati, which are fully functional.

• Additional offices are being planned in Tripura, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad.

Parliament Committees

• The work done by the Parliament in modern times is not only varied and complex in nature, but also considerable in volume. The time at its disposal is limited. 

• It cannot, therefore, give close consideration to all the legislative and other matters that come up before it. A good deal of its business is, therefore, transacted in Committees of the House, known as Parliamentary Committees. 

• Parliamentary Committee means a committee which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction of the Speaker and presents its report to the House or to the Speaker and the Secretariat for which is provided by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

• By their nature, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds: Standing Committees and Ad hoc Committees. 

1) Standing Committees are permanent and regular committees which are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. 

The work of these Committees is of continuous nature. The Financial Committees, Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) and some other Committees come under the category of Standing Committees. 

2) Ad hoc Committees are appointed for a specific purpose and they cease to exist when they finish the task assigned to them and submit a report. The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and Joint Committees on Bills. Railway Convention Committee, Joint Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex etc also come under the category of ad hoc Committees.

Departmentally Related Standing Committees

• In 1989, three Standing Committees were constituted which dealt with Agriculture, Science and Technology and Environment and Forests. 

• In 1993, it was finally decided to set up 17 Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) each consisting of 15 members of Rajya Sabha and 30 from Lok Sabha to cover various ministries/departments of the Union government. 

• With the addition of seven more Committees in July 2004 and reduced membership of 10 from Rajya Sabha and 21 from Lok Sabha, the number of DRSCs was raised to 24. 

• Out of these 24, eight were placed within the jurisdiction of the Rajya Sabha Chairman and 16 within the jurisdiction of Lok Sabha Speaker.

• Rules 268 to 277 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Conduct of States and Rules 331 C to 331 N of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha govern the Constitution and functioning of these Committees.

• The term of Office of these Committees does not exceed one year. 

These 24 Committees are:

1) Committee on Commerce

2) Committee on Home Affairs

3) Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports

4) Committee on Industry

5) Committee on Science & Technology, Environment, Forest and Climate Change

6) Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture

7) Committee on Health and Family Welfare

8) Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice

9) Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing

10) Committee on Communications and Information Technology

11) Committee on Defence

12) Committee on Energy

13) Committee on External Affairs

14) Committee on Finance

15) Committee on Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

16) Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development

17) Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas

18) Committee on Railways

19) Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs

20) Committee on Water Resources

21) Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers

22) Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

23) Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel

24) Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)