New Delhi: With just six days left in the winter session of Parliament, the government has its work cut out to clear bills, with some of them yet to get approval of the Union cabinet.
In the run-up to the session, the government had listed 12 bills-including 10 new legislation-for passage during the session. In the first two weeks (the government has listed appropriation bills for Friday), it has so far managed to clear three bills. These are: The Health Security Se National Security Cess Bill and the central excise amendment bill to impose higher cess on pan masala and tobacco products, and the Manipur GST bill to replace an ordinance.
According to key functionaries, two crucial bills-the Atomic Energy Bill that will pave the way for private investment in the sector and The Higher Education Commission of India Bill, which will create a single regulator for higher education, have not been circulated among members.
“We have not got the copy of these two bills. There has been no discussion between the government and the Opposition on when these bills may come,” said Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Ray.
A senior Congress leader from the Rajya Sabha said, “Time is running out. In the Upper House, the debate on SIR is not yet over. We don’t think the government has any intention to pass many bills.”
On Friday, the Union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet. It is expected to approve some legislation for introduction in the winter session, two senior government functionaries told HT. The session, which started on December 1, will end on December 19.
The other new bills include The National Highways Amendment Bill to ensure faster land acquisition for highway projects. While land acquisition for roads and other public works comes under the land and rehabilitation law, the new bill aims to give relaxations for construction of highways.
The government will make further amendments to the Companies Act, 2013 and LLP Act, 2008 to facilitate ease of doing business. It will repeal 120 obsolete laws and a bill to create a Securities Markets Code Bill (SMC), 2025, which seeks to consolidate the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the Depositories Act, 1996 and the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 into a rationalised single Securities Markets Code.
The first week had seen disruptions over the Opposition’s demand to debate the SIR exercise and both Houses spent considerable time to debate 150 years of Vande Mataram and electoral reforms.