Jammu, Mar 30 (NVI): As many as 33 Private Members’ Bills have been listed for consideration in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday, covering a wide range of issues including prohibition on liquor, land reforms, regulation of doctors’ private practice, and social welfare measures.
Official details, six of the proposed bills seek a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol in the Union Territory. These include proposals for complete prohibition as well as region-specific restrictions, including in the Kashmir Valley and certain constituencies. One bill also proposes amendments to the existing Excise law to enforce prohibition.
A key proposal aims to bar government doctors from private practice to strengthen public healthcare services and ensure their full-time availability in government institutions.
Land-related issues also feature prominently, with one bill seeking restoration of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants Act, 1960, in its original form prior to the 2022 amendments. Another proposes granting ownership rights to long-term occupants of state land, regularisation of tourism-related land, and ensuring transparency in land transfers.
The Assembly will also consider a bill for the management and protection of Kashmiri Hindu shrines and religious places in the Union Territory.
Among other proposals, two bills focus on food safety, including a ban on the import of frozen and chilled food items from outside the UT and stricter action against the sale of unhygienic or unsafe meat.
Employment and welfare-related measures include proposals for regularisation of casual and daily-rated workers, social security provisions for unemployed youth, and compassionate appointments for the next of kin of those who died in service or due to terrorism or enemy action.
The Legislative Assembly Secretariat has accepted 72 Private Members’ Bills in total, with the remaining expected to be taken up in subsequent sittings, subject to time availability.(NVI)
