Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The meeting of the House of Representatives has been affected due to a lack of business. Regular sessions of the lower house have been unable to convene due to a lack of business. As a result, meetings of the House of Representatives are now being held at weekly intervals.
The House meeting held on July 31 was followed by another on August 6, after a 6-day gap. The next meeting is scheduled for August 14. Even when Speaker Devraj Ghimire convenes the House meetings at weekly intervals, there appears to be no substantial business to discuss. Due to the irregular scheduling of the House meetings, lawmakers have been unable to raise issues concerning the public. The lack of business has prevented representatives from utilizing the emergency, zero-hour, and special-time sessions that typically occur in the House of Representatives.
The Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives discussed the ‘Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts’ last week.
During the discussion, Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya, Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, complained that the parliamentary committee’s delay in passing bills has left the House of Representatives without business. However, it is the responsibility of the government to provide business to parliament. Chaurasiya, as the law minister, is responsible for providing business to the parliament.
The Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts has been under consideration in the committee for a long time. “Currently, the parliament is without business. It would be better if bills weren’t stuck in committees. It would be beneficial if we could finalize the Bill to Amend Some Nepal Acts quickly,” he added.
The bill, which was registered in the House of Representatives in May last year, is currently under consideration in the Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee.
Officials from the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs say that the bill, intended to make timely improvements to various acts, remaining stuck in parliament for more than a year demonstrates the slow pace of the law-making process in Nepal.
As many as 18 bills are under discussion at different thematic committees of the House of Representatives. According to Ekram Giri, the spokesperson for the Federal Parliament Secretariat, there are four bills in the Finance Committee, one bill in the Industry, Commerce, and Labor and Consumer Interest Committee, three bills in the Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee, and four in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee.
Similarly, the Infrastructure Development Committee has two bills, while the Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee has four bills. The transitional justice-related bill was recently passed by the parliamentary committee.
