Chandigarh, March 10 -- Amid objections by opposition Congress MLAs, the Haryana assembly on Monday passed the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents (amendment) Bill, 2026. After chief minister Nayab Saini tabled the amendment Bill in the House, Congress MLA from Beri, Raghuvir Singh Kadian said that this Bill should be referred to the select committee of the assembly. " It is quite ironic that the principal Bill was brought in the House twice - in 2024 and 2025 - following objections raised by the central government," he said. Saini, however, said that only minor amendments which were in line with the central law are being proposed on the advice of the Ministry of External Affairs. Another Congress MLA, BB Batra, objected to the manner in which the proposed amendments were being made in the Act. However, he was overruled by the speaker. When Congress MLAs created noise, the speaker said that the chief minister had clarified the matter. Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that it was the right of the MLAs to speak and sought reply clause by clause. "The legal department should have removed the deformity in this law after consulting the central and the state laws. That's how it should have been done,'' Batra said. As per the statement of objects and reasons of the amendment Bill, the Ministry of External Affairs had intimated that there are certain provisions of the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Act, 2025, which appeared to be inconsistent with the Emigration Act, 1983. The Emigration Act governs the emigration of Indian citizens for employment abroad. The Haryana law aimed at regulating travel agents operating within the state. "There are certain provisions, particularly those relating to the scope of operation for travel agents which overlap with the provisions of the Emigration Act, 1983. Certain provisions of the statute could potentially be exploited by travel agents to bypass the provisions of the Emigration Act, 1983, including mandatory registration with the Protector General of Emigrants. To avoid violation of the provisions of the Emigration Act, 1983, and to curb the growing instances of illegal recruitment activities of Indian citizens abroad by unscrupulous agents, it has been proposed that the Government of India and the state government should work in harmony to provide robust framework to ensure safe and legal migration," the statement of objects and reasons of the amendment Bill said. Saini said that amendment Bill was required to amend the Haryana Act to remove inconsistencies and harmonise the provisions of the state law and Emigration Act, 1983, for strengthening the regulatory framework governing the recruiting agents....