 bill no  188 of  2018 the national commission for immigration reform bill, 2018 byshri gaurav gogoi, mpa billto constitute a commission for immigration reforms to check illegal migration and regulate immigration and related issues in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter i preliminarydefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;5(b) "commission" means the national commission for immigration reform constituted under section 3;(c) "foreigner" means a person who is not a citizen of india;(d) "illegal migration" means any movement that takes place outside the scope of the regulatory norms of sending, transit and receiving country;(e) "illegal migrants" includes any foreign national who enters the territory of india devoid of any necessary or valid documents or permits;10(f) "member" means a member of the commission and includes the member-secretary; and(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act chapter ii15 the national commission for immigration reform3  (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a commission to be known as the national commission for immigration reform to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to it under this act(2) the commission shall consists of:—establishment of a national commission for immigration reform20(a) a chairperson, who is or has been a judge of the supreme court or of a high court;(b) a member-secretary, who is or has been the home secretary, union ministry of home affairs;(c) representatives each from the high commissions of india's neighbouring nations (afghanistan, bangladesh, bhutan, china, myanmar, nepal, pakistan, sri lanka);25(d) one representative from the prison or correctional services dealing with detention of illegal migrants;(e) one representative from a non-governmental organisation dealing with matters related to immigration;30(f) one representative from the legal fraternity who has special knowledge in the matters of migration law and policy;(g) one representative from the border security force;35(h) an officer who is a member of the civil service of the union or of all india service who holds a civil post under the union with appropriate experience in the field of foreign policy; and(i) representatives each from the state governments from border states4 (1) the chairperson and every member shall hold office for such period, not exceeding five years, as may be specified by the central government in this behalf40terms of office and conditions of service of chairperson and members(2) the chairperson or a member (other than the member-secretary) who is a member of the civil service of the union or of an all india service or holds a civil post under the union may, by writing and addressed to the central government, resign from the office of chairperson or, as the case may be, of the member at any time(3)the central government shall reserve the right to remove a person from the office of chairperson or a member referred to in sub-section (2) if that person—(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent; or (b) gets convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which in the opinion of the central government involves moral turpitude; or(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;5(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting; or(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the commission, absent from three consecutive meetings of the commission; or(f) in the opinion of the central government has so abused their position as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to public interest:10provided that no person shall be removed under this clause until that person has beengiven a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter(4) a vacancy caused under sub-section (2) may be filed by fresh nomination(5) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson and members shall be such as may be prescribed155 (1) the central government shall provide the commission with officers andemployees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the commission under this actofficers and other employees of the commission20(2) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions ofservice of, the officers and other employees appointed for the purpose of the commission shall be such as may be prescribedsalaries and allowances to be paid out of grants6 the salaries and allowances payable to the chairperson and members and the administrative expenses, including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the officers and other employees referred to in section 5, shall be paid out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1) of  section 10257 no act or proceeding of the commission shall be questioned or shall be invalid onthe ground merely of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the commissionvacancies etc, not to invalidate proceedings of the commission8 (1) the commission shall meet as and when necessary at such time and place as the chairperson may deem fitprocedure to be regulated by the commission30(2) the commission shall regulate its own procedure(3) all orders and decisions of the commission shall be authenticated by the member-secretary or any other officer of the commission duly authorized by the member-secretary in this behalf chapter iii35 functions of the commission9 (1) the commission shall,—functions of the commission(a) investigate and examine all matters relating to immigration under the constitution of india and other laws, in view of preventing illegal migration into india;40(b) present to the central government, annually and at such other times as the commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of these laws;(c) make in such reports, recommendations for the effective implementation of these laws with emphasis on preventing illegal migration into the country;(d) call for investigations to gather information regarding extent of illegal migration into india and develop a criterion for identification of illegal migrants;| (                                                                                 | e   | ) call for special studies or investigations into specific issues or situations that   ||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| arise during the process of identification and deportation of illegal migrants;   |     |                                                                                        || 5                                                                                 |     |                                                                                        || (                                                                                 | f   | ) facilitate dialogue with neighbouring countries to undertake joint action in         || matters relating to immigration;                                                  |     |                                                                                        || (                                                                                 | g   | ) undertake educational research to suggest ways to ensure that the treatment          || of illegal migrants is done in accordance to international law and best practice; |     |                                                                                        || 10                                                                                |     |                                                                                        || (                                                                                 | h   | ) undertake education research to ascertain humanitarian concerns involved             || in the treatment of illegal migrants and identify the criterion therein;          |     |                                                                                        |(i) inspect or cause to be inspected issues such as border patrolling and security measures at the borders;(j) inspect or cause to be inspected the facilities where illegal migrants are detained and take up with the concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary;15(k)conduct periodical reviews of the framework surrounding immigration in the country and assess its efficacy; and(l) undertake any other matter which may be referred to it by the central government20(2) the central government shall cause all reports referred to in clause (b) of the subsection (1) to be laid before each house of the parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on such recommendations relating to the union and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of any such recommendations25(3) where any such report or any part thereof relates to any matter with which any state government is concerned, the commission shall forward a copy of such report or part to such state government who shall cause it to be laid before the legislature of the state along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the state and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of any such recommendations chapter iv30 finance, accounts and auditgrants by the central government10 (1) the central government shall, after due appropriation made by the law in thisbehalf, pay to the commission by the way of grants such sums of money as the central government may deem fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act35(2) the commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing the functions under this act, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1)accounts and audit11 (1) the commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant  records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor-general of india40(2) the accounts of the commission shall be audited by the comptroller and auditor-general at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the commission to the comptroller and auditor-general45(3) the comptroller and auditor-general and any person appointed by them in connection with the audit of the accounts of the commission under this act shall have the5same rights and privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the comptroller and auditor-general generally has in connection with the audit of the government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the commission(4) the accounts of the commission, as certified by the comptroller and auditor-general or any other person appointed by him in this behalf, together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the central government by the commissionannual report1012 (1) the commission shall prepare in such form and at such time for each financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report, giving full account of its activities during the previous financial year and forward a copy thereof to the central government15(2)the central government shall cause the annual report together with a memorandum of action taken on the recommendations contained therein, in so far as they relate to the central government and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations and the audit report to be laid as soon as maybe after the reports are received, before each house of parliament chapter v misceallaneous2045 of 186013 the chairperson, the members, officers and other employees of the commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code 1860chairperson, members and staff of the commission to be public servants14 the central government shall consult the commission on all major policy decisions relating to the detection, treatment, engagement and deportation of illegal migrantscentral government to consult commission power to make rules2515 (1) the central government may, by notification in the officialgazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of the act(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—(a) salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson and members under sub-section (2) of section 3 and of officers and other employees under sub-section (2) of section 5;30(b) the form in, and the time at, which the annual report to be prepared under section 12; and3540(c) any other matter which is required to be or may be, prescribed (3) every rulemade under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of the parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsillegal migration has emerged as a major international challenge in the recent pastillegal migration has numerous socio-political consequences and places stress on public spending in a country countries across the world have realised the need to regulate immigration into their country and keep illegal migration at the bay the united states of america, canada, the european union, the united kindgom have a robust framework in place that deals with the issue of illegal migration, despite which they continue to face many hurdles the growing rise in humanitarian crises around the world has led to an increase in the number of individuals seeking asylum in foreign countries it is at this time, that the need for a strong framework that regulates immigration, while distinguishing between illegal migrants and refugees, is being felt worldwidethe issue of illegal migration has been a burning issue for india since its independenceit has experienced waves of illegal migration from its neighbouring countries such as bangladesh, pakistan, myanmar and afghanistan illegal migrants take advantage of the porous border and make their way into the country before moving deeper into the mainland in search of better opportunities than those available in their country of origin despite facing these issues for years, the framework governing immigration in india comprise of a host of legislations matters concerning immigration, detection of illegal migrants and their subsequent treatment are dealt with by numerous laws such as the constitution of india, the foreigners act, the citizenship act along with other laws within this sphere the advent of the citizenship (amendment) bill, 2016, which seeks to provide protection to illegal migrants of certain faiths, the framework would continue to become more complicated in addition to complexity of laws, there is also a gross lack of reliable data on illegal migrants the census provides data regarding migrants and not illegal migrants specificallyrecently, the updation of the national register of citizens in the state of assam, brought the issue of illegal migration into the limelight once again the exercise identified that nearly forty lakh individuals in the state of assam, which shares a border with bangladesh, were residing there without proper documentation however, the process shed light on another important aspect it exposed the inadequacy of the government with respect to the treatment and subsequent deportation of illegal migrants once they have been identified by the statethere is a lack of a solid framework to initiate swift deportation proceedings or a lack of coordination with neighbouring governments there is also a lack of infrastructure to house illegal migrants, once identified, in the interim this leads to detention in poor conditions, on occasion, for indefinite periods this entire process is sensitive asthere are numerous humanitarian and legal concerns involved in the process if done improperly, it could invite ire from the international community and have ramifications under international law as india is taking large strides towards establishing itself as a global power, it is imperative that the government assess the current framework of immigration and provide for a better institutional approach to the illegal migrant issue that is at par with international best practiceshence this billnew delhi;gaurav gogoinovember 27, 2018 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the constitution of the national commission for immigration reform it also provides for the appointment of representatives from the prison, non-governmental organisations and legal fraternity clause 4 provides for payment of salaries to chairperson and members of the commission clause 5 provides for payment of salaries and allowances to officers and other staff of the commission clause 10 provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds for the smooth functioning of the commission the bill therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india however, at this stage the recurring and non-recurring expenditure cannot be estimated, but has to be worked out by the central government while implementing the provisions of the bill memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 15 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character————— a bill to constitute a commission for immigration reforms to check illegal migration and regulate immigration and related issues in the country and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————— (shri gaurav gogoi, mp)mgipmrnd—2270ls—14-12-2018