Biological diversity bill referred to joint committee of Parliament

The panel is expected to submit its report by the last day of the first week of the next session of Parliament

A joint committee comprising members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will study the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021, which the government had introduced in the lower house of Parliament on December 16.

The Congress, the main opposition party, had opposed the move by the government led by the BJP to constitute a select committee with members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to study the Bill, instead of referring it to the parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav moved the motion in the Lok Sabha on Monday to refer the Bill to the Joint Committee. The committee will have 21 members of the Lok Sabha and 10 members from the Rajya Sabha. He said that the panel was expected to submit its report by the last day of the first week of the next session of Parliament.

The Bill seeks to amend the Biological Diversity Act 2002.

Yadav named the Lok Sabha members, who will be the members of the committee. The Lok Sabha recommended to Rajya Sabha to appoint its representatives to the committee.

Jairam Ramesh, a member of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, had written to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him not to allow the government to refer the Bill to the select committee, instead of sending it to the standing committee related to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

Ramesh, himself, chairs the parliamentary standing committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging cultivation of medicinal plants, encourage Indian system of medicine, facilitate fast-tracking of research, patent application process, transfer of research results while utilising the biological resources available in India without compromising the objectives of United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and its Nagoya Protocol, decriminalise certain provisions of the 2002 Act and bring more foreign investments in the chain of biological resources, including research, patent and commercial utilization, without compromising the national interest.

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