The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, doesn’t specify the qualifications of the Chief Medical Officer, TMC MP Saket Gokhale says. Among the amendments, the government has introduced a definition for “authority”, which is to mean “a medical board, headed by a chief medical officer or a deputy chief medical officer, as may be appointed by the Central government, State government or Union territory Administration”.

“Opposition’s demand to refer this bill to a select committee wasn’t taken up. Shocking that the National Council for Transgender Persons wasn’t consulted,” the TMC MP says.

TMC MP Saket Gokhale submits that the Upper House must look at the Transgender Bill beyond party lines. “Trans people already know the reality because they are living it everyday. This is for us to understand and learn by listening.”

“What legislative competence are we even talking about,” he questions, highlighting that the government is making laws without listening to those it affects.

“They look at social media and what happens in America. Because we have surrendered to Donald Trump so much today that if he says there are two genders, we will also say there are two,” he says.

This Bill, Mr. Gokhale says, is “nothing but a trashy colonial legislation”.

As per Census 2011, transgender population was five lakh. Only 32,000 persons have obtained certificated and identity cards under the Act because “they are afraid to come out”, the MP adds. “This will criminalise them and push them even further away.”

Speaking in support of the Transgender Persons Bill, BJP MP from Maharashtra Medha Kulkarni says there is a need for a law that brings justice to “real” transgenders and punishes “fake” ones.

Benefits should be extended to those who are transgenders “by birth” also known as “third gender”, she adds. She opines that the amendment to extend punishment will bring down the rate of crime and “forced identities”.

During the discussion on the bill to amend Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, TMC MP Saugata Roy says: “The bill was first brought by Arun Jaitley as there was no way to resolve corporate insolvency. The bill was doing well in the initial stage as it gave remarkable outcomes and improved credit discipline. The momentum appears to have waned.”

The new form of the bill is causing concern, Mr. Roy adds.

In August last year, the Ministry had introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the IBC, proposing a raft of changes, including provisions to reduce the time taken for admission of insolvency resolution applications.

The Bill, which was referred to a select committee of the Lok Sabha, has also submitted its report in December 2025.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) chaired a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Mr. Singh, in a post on X, wrote, “Chaired the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting today on the subject of Border Roads Organisation. Comprehensive and insightful deliberations were held on important issues pertaining to defence, infrastructure development and ongoing strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening reviews operational preparedness and operational preparedness”.

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, during the discussion in Rajya Sabha, says that even if the Transgender Persons Bill is passed in Parliament with majority from the government despite Opposition pressure, it will be struck down by the Supreme Court.

“It violated Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution which deprives the community of the right to freedom, dignity and self determination,” Mr. Siva says.

A private member Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha by Mr. Tiruchi Siva in 2014 to guarantee rights and provide welfare measures for transgender persons. This Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2015. In a rare action, it was the first time in 45 years that a private members’ Bill was passed by the House.

Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury, during the discussion on the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, 2026, hit out at the Union government and compared the Bill to “SIR on transgender persons”. This is not about existence, but about discrimination.

She started her address by asking the other members of the House if the self-identification of gender they carry out on the forms before coming to the Parliament are valid or not.

“Constitution is with the people who identify as transgenders today. The prime minister himself has called himself non-biological’,” she says amid uproar in the House.

Ms. Chowdhury clarifies that she is appreciative of PM Modi’s move on his forward thinking. “Transgenders are in the Supreme Court, in the police and on the playing fields winning medals for the country. What is there to be ashamed about? Why are we forcing new laws on them?”

During the discussion on the CAPF Bill, CPI (M) MP in Rajya Sabha John Brittas says: “It travels beyond the legislative competence of the government acting under ordinary piece of legislation.”

To this, the Chair says the Parliament has the legislative competence.

“While Parliament is competence, it cannot by mere declaration annul operative judicial orders without genuinely addressing the legal basis,” Mr. Brittas says.

The Bill, which has been criticised by the Opposition members and retired officials, says that in CAPFs, 50% of the total posts in the rank of Inspector General, at least 67% posts in the rank of Additional Director General and all posts in the rank of Special Director General and Director General shall be filled by Indian Police Service (IPS) officers on deputation. Retired officials say the Bill is unjust as it goes against a May 23, 2025 Supreme Court judgment which granted Organised Group A Service (OGAS) status to CAPF officers and asked the government to progressively reduce IPS deputation in CAPFs up to the rank of I-Gs over the next two years.

Till now, such postings were done based on executive orders, and the Bill will codify the provisions.

Eight hours have been allocated for introduction and discussion of the Bill in the Upper House beginning Wednesday, a member of one of the opposition parties confirmed.

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Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill, 2026, along with 32 government amendments.

Chair Krishna Prasad Tenneti says the newly amended and passed bill has 17 new sections.

With the passage of the Finance Bill 2026, the Lok Sabha completed its part of the Budgetary approval process. The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, will now consider the Bill.

After the Rajya Sabha approves the Bill, the Budget process for 2026-27 will be complete.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking in the Lok Sabha, said the Finance Bill 2026–27 is built on five clear principles aimed at strengthening India’s economic framework. She highlighted improvements in trust-based tax administration and stressed the importance of continuing reforms that enhance ease of living for citizens and ease of doing business. 

Responding to criticism, Ms. Sitharaman said such efforts should not be mocked, as they are central to long-term growth and governance. 

PTI

Since 2008, the world’s overall debt burden has increased 41%, FM Sitharaman states, highlighting that India has reduced “its total debt burden by 4% of its GDP”.

She drew comparison with U.S. and China’s figures. “India’s combined figure, the debt-to-GDP figure, is 83% approximately. It is also on a declining path, that too after Covid,” she adds.

In Rajya Sabha, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responds to queries from various members on the provision of AI courses in secondary schools.

“We are focussing on capacity building in terms of teacher training. AI is a horizontal topic and under the NEP’s new curriculum, the primary knowledge of AI will be from Class 3 onwards,” Mr. Pradhan says.

“It is unfortunate that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin protested against the Women’s Reservation Bill,” Ms. Sitharaman says, linking it to her reply on PLI scheme. She says that the scheme largely caters to providing employment to young women across the country and the DMK government has opposed it too.

The Finance Minister then goes on to say a line in Tamil which translates to “[Tamil Nadu] DMK Govt. is against women”.

“If he wanted a reply, he should have been here,” she takes a dig at the INDI Alliance members, adding that DMK leaders are not present in the House whenever she replies to any discussion.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her reply in Lok Sabha, questioned Tamil Nadu over its stance on the PLI schemes. “If PLI was not productive and did not generate job, then why did’nt Tamil Nadu reject the PLI-based investements there?”

She cited the example of Micron going to Gujarat over which Tamil Nadu allegedly raised complaints about losing out on the investments.

In the last six-year period, 2019-2024/25, the cumulative utilisation of cesses has exceeded the collection. ₹15.14 lakh crore was collected, while ₹15.97 laks crore was sent to States under various schemes, Ms. Sitharaman says.

“Repeatedly raising doubts saying that you put it in the divisible pool, not realising that only 40% will reach you that way, is just making a lot of noise without understanding the details,” the Finance Minister says in her address in the Lok Sabha

“Passengers will have far less to worry about when they land in India,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, referring to the rationalisation of tariffs on gifts and personal imports. She said she receives a lot of day-to-day complaints of disputes at airports.

The relief as part of the Finance Bill is aimed for “middle class, not for high net worth individuals”, she adds.

MoS Home Affairs of India Nityanand Rai, on behalf of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, proposes to introduce the bill to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act in the ongoing session of Parliament session. 

After a brief debate, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, called for a vote on the motion, which was accepted by voice vote.

One of the key changes proposed is the appointment of a “designated authority” to take over, manage or dispose of assets created out of foreign funds by an NGO or association, which has had its FCRA registration suspended, cancelled, or not renewed.

Congress MP in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari appeals to Chair V.P. Radhakrishnan to increase the MPLADs fund scheme to at least ₹20 crore annually. The MPLAD Scheme enables each MP to recommend developmental projects worth ₹5 crore annually, usually within their own constituency.

He also questions the GST on it and says a voting can be done to see the majority response. 

Launched in December 1993, MPLADS, or Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme, is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Government of India. It enables Members of Parliament to recommend developmental projects focusing on creating durable community assets (such as roads, school buildings, and water facilities) in their constituencies.

Rajesh Ranjan (alias Pappu Yadav) from Bihar raises a question on reviewing the issue of overcrowding in long distance trains which has led to several accidents. “Member has given wrong statistics on safety, consequential Railway accidents down 90%,” Mr. Vaishnaw says.

Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy of India, responds to question on dedicated rare earth corridors in the country. It is a matter that deals with a larger ecosystem, he says.

“We will have to increase out resources and processes to increase and scale up our sources of clean energy,” Mr. Singh says, answering a question posed by BJP MP Mahima Kumari Mewar.

Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi replies to questions on investment in solar projects in Maharashtra. Members raised concern over gaps in generation and transmission of renewable energy. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP asked about ramping up construction of solar rooftops and parks.

“There are 10,000 solar rooftops are being installed on the daily across the country. 396 rooftops have been installed in Mumbai’s residential and commercial complexes. I appreciate the performance of Fadnavis-led government in the State which has set a Guiness record of 45,911 solar pump installations in a single month,” Mr. Joshi said.

He credited this to PM-KUSUM among other government schemes.

A Supreme Court-constituted Advisory Committee headed by former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon has sent a resolution to the Government of India, requesting that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, be withdrawn as the proposal to “deny self-identification” of gender went against the decision of the Supreme Court in the 2014 NALSA v Union of India verdict.

The Bill is listed for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (March 25).

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The Government of India has called for an all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) at 5 p.m.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) reviewed the evolving security situation in West Asia and its implications for India’s defence preparedness at a high-level meeting attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, the three Service Chiefs, senior Ministry officials, and the Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The Lok Sabha takes up Question Hour with Speaker Om Birla as the Chair.

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) said the “U-turn Ustad” now wants to implement the women’s reservation law without completing the delimitation and census operations.

It said the Prime Minister has let it be known that a “special two-day session” will be convened in the next fortnight to pass the amendments necessary to implement the law.

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CPI(M) MP John Brittas on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) invoked Parliament’s unanimous 2003 resolution under then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, condemning the Iraq war, to urge the government to introduce a similar motion on the ongoing conflict involving Iran.

Raising the matter during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Brittas called for a “united and unanimous voice” of Parliament against what he described as unilateral and illegal military actions by the United States and Israel. India, he said, “should not remain silent”.

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (March 25, 2026) is set to take up the​ the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026​, for consideration and passing. 

The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday by a voice vote amid an Opposition-led walkout.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) held discussions on ending the ongoing Budget session by March 28 so that leaders can campaign in election-bound States.

The second part of the Budget session, which started on March 9, is scheduled to end on April 2. However, with Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry barely two weeks away, many of the top leaders and MPs from these States are busy in poll campaign and have skipped parliamentary proceedings.

When the issue of an early adjournment was taken up, sources claimed the government indicated that it may not recommend prorogation or formally end the session. “Instead, it [Parliament] may take a break for the polls and reconvene again after the elections are over by the end of April,” an Opposition MP who attended the BAC meeting told The Hindu.

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Amidst an Opposition-led walkout, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 24, 2026) passed by voice vote the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, which proposes to remove transgender people’s right to self-determination of gender, and introduces a clause for examination by a medical board to determine their gender.

Transgender rights groups, civil society leaders, and several prominent members of the community condemned the passing of the Bill as an “injustice”.