Hyderabad: A Bill to give the national song Vande Mataram the same statutory protection as the national anthem Jana Gana Mana, making any insult or obstruction to its singing a punishable offence, has been listed by the Centre for introduction, consideration and passing in Parliament during the Monsoon Session beginning July 20.
A bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat said the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026, will amend the 1971 law under which disrespect to the national flag and the Constitution already attracts a jail term of up to three years, a fine or both.
The proposed amendment is expected to bring wilful insult or disruption of Vande Mataram under a similar penal framework.
The bill comes at the tail end of a year-long commemoration of 150 years of Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1875 and first published seven years later in his Bengali novel Anandmath. The Union Cabinet had in May this year cleared the proposal to place the song on statutory footing equal to the national anthem, days after the government wrapped up nationwide celebrations that began on November 7, 2025, marking the anniversary.
The subject had already occupied Parliament once this session cycle. Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha held 10-hour special debates on the song’s legacy in December 2025, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening the discussion in the Lok Sabha and using the occasion to accuse Jawaharlal Nehru of having diluted the song’s legacy for the sake of appeasement politics.
The Opposition, led by the Congress, contested the timing of the debate, with the party citing its own history of freedom fighters courting arrest while chanting the song during the non-cooperation movement. The government has maintained that the legislation is meant to formalise the song’s status, not reopen old political battles.
The Lok Sabha secretariat bulletin also listed the consideration and passing of the contentious Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment (FCRA) Bill, 2026, which seeks to empower the government to strip non-compliant NGOs of their assets. The bill was introduced during the Budget Session but did not come up for passage, ostensibly because of opposition from certain quarters in Kerala, where Assembly elections were due around that time.
The 2020 amendment to the FCRA law had capped the use of foreign contributions for administrative expenses at 25 per cent, down from 50 per cent earlier. The fresh amendment seeks to go further by allowing the government to seize and permanently acquire the assets of NGOs found in violation of registration norms.
A delegation of Christian leaders had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is piloting the Bill, to convey their apprehensions.
Also listed for introduction, consideration and passing in both Houses is the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to make delayed registration of births and deaths more stringent by amending section 13(3) of the 1969 Act. Sources told news agency PTI that under the proposed change, people who fail to report a birth or death within two years may face a tougher process, with such delayed registrations to be permitted only on the orders of a first-class judicial magistrate.
This replaces the current system under which a district magistrate, sub-divisional magistrate or executive magistrate can approve them.
The government also plans to take up the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, for consideration and passing once the report of a Joint Committee of Parliament is tabled in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill, introduced in December 2025 and since examined by the joint panel, proposes a sweeping overhaul of higher education regulation by dissolving the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education in favour of a single unified commission, split into three specialised wings for regulation, accreditation and standards, in line with the National Education Policy, 2020.
Separately, the government intends to introduce the Income-Tax (Amendment) Bill to replace an ordinance that exempted foreign investors from income tax on interest earnings and capital gains from investments in government securities. The ordinance was promulgated last month to draw foreign capital and ease pressure on the rupee amid the West Asia crisis.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, is also on the agenda for introduction, consideration and passing in both Houses. It seeks to align the 2006 MSME law with the changed business landscape and bring in trust-based regulation for the sector.
(With inputs from PTI)
This post was last modified on July 17, 2026 3:59 pm