Separately, the lower house, Lok Sabha, passed the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on the first day of the winter session. This bill, which seeks to amend the Advocates Act, 1961 was cleared by the upper house in August.

The bills are part of the Centre’s plan to repeal “all obsolete laws or pre-independence Acts”.

The Post Office Bill will allow central government officials to intercept, open or detain any item and deliver them to the customs authority.

“In a society which is as complex and diverse, and times which are as difficult as they are, it is very important that interception is done. This kind of a provision is kept for national security,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister of communications, electronics and information technology, during the discussions on the bill in the Rajya Sabha.

The Central Universities Amendment Bill 2023, which will amend the Central Universities Act of 2009, was also introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The centre wants to facilitate the transformation of the post offices into a network for delivery of citizen-centric services through the Post Office Bill 2023.

Vaishnaw added there is no provision to privatize post offices.The bill will now have to be passed by the Lok Sabha.

Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Updated: 04 Dec 2023, 08:38 PM IST