Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 19: The Central government is set to unveil five new legislations during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which begins on Monday, with proposed reforms covering taxation, the judiciary, MSMEs, birth registration and protection of national symbols.

Among the major proposals listed for introduction during the Eighth Session of the 18th Lok Sabha are the Income-tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

Two of these Bills will replace ordinances promulgated earlier by the government.

The Income-tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks to replace an ordinance issued last month to encourage foreign investment in Indian government securities. The proposed law aims to strengthen the country's sovereign debt market, improve liquidity and attract overseas capital at a time of global geopolitical uncertainty, volatile crude oil prices and supply chain disruptions. Under the ordinance, foreign investors were granted exemptions from income tax on interest income and capital gains earned from government securities to help ease pressure on the rupee.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 proposes increasing the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges from 33 to 37, excluding the Chief Justice of India, with the objective of reducing case pendency and speeding up the disposal of matters before the apex court.

The MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 is aimed at improving the ease of doing business by introducing trust-based regulatory mechanisms, strengthening safeguards against delayed payments and providing greater administrative powers to state governments in matters relating to the sector.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026 proposes changes to Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, to make the process for delayed registration of births and deaths more stringent and streamlined.

Meanwhile, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks to strengthen the existing 1971 law by prescribing tougher action against acts considered disrespectful to the national flag, the Constitution and other national symbols.

Besides the new Bills, the government is expected to take up two pending legislations already before Parliament. These include the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha in March this year, and the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which is currently under examination by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The government will also present the Demands for Supplementary Grants for 2022-23 for discussion and approval during the session.

Political observers are also watching whether the Centre will move forward with the proposed Constitution Amendment Bills on delimitation and women's reservation, though indications suggest the government may wait until it is assured of the required two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The Monsoon Session, scheduled to run from July 20 to August 13, is expected to witness intense debates between the Treasury and Opposition benches over the government's legislative agenda and other national issues.

Ahead of the session, the Centre has convened an all-party meeting on July 19 to brief political parties on the proposed legislative business, while Opposition leaders from both Houses are also expected to meet to coordinate their strategy for the weeks ahead.