Facebook Pixel Code

Not much legislative biz in Budget session

Thursday?s maiden Budget by the Narendra Modi government would be the highlight of the Parliament session

Thursday?s maiden Budget by the Narendra Modi government would be the highlight of the Parliament session, which begins on Monday and ends on August 14, but other legislative agenda for the month-long session doesn’t look very promising.

Of course, a slew of issues, such as price rise, the Iraq crisis and the recent hike in railway fares and freight rates, would also consume the House?s time and energy.

While the railway budget will be presented on July 8, the Economic Survey 2013-14 will be released on July 9.

This will be followed by the presentation of the General Budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley on July 10.

The immediate task before the government would be to get the the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, for appointment of Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary ratified. Besides a Bill to replace an ordinance on the Polavaram project under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 would indeed be taken up.

According to PRS Legislative research, when the 15th Lok Sabha finished its term, 128 Bill remained pending in Parliament. Of these, 68 Bills were pending in Lok Sabha and lapsed with its dissolution. As many as 60 Bills, which are currently pending in Rajya Sabha, will be carried forward to the 16th Lok Sabha. It will be up to the new Cabinet to take forward the pending legislation, as well as restart the introduction process on the Bills that have lapsed.

Key economic legislation which have lapsed include the Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010 (which the NDA government doesn’t appear to be keen on), the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2011, The Public Procurement Bill, 2012 and The Micro Finance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012. Besides, the Civil Aviation Authority Bill, 2013, the Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, Securities and Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 also lapsed. It remains to be seen if the NDA government wants to re-introduce the Bill and how.

The Insurance Bill which seeks to raise the FDI cap in the sector may not be taken up with any urgency as the parliamentary standing committee headed by former finance minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha had opposed the hike. As the corporate affairs ministry has put some of the Company Act provisions under review amid industry demand, these could be introduced in later part of the session. (Of course, many of the regulatory leniency sought by private unlisted companies can be addressed without amending the Act.)

The session will have 28 sittings and 168 working hours. Since the Standing Committees for various ministries are yet to be constituted, the demands for grants for various ministries will be passed by both Houses by July 31 after discussion in Parliament instead of the committees. Parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu has maintained that the government is ready for a discussion on any issue and has appealed to the Opposition to “cooperate” to ensure that the decorum and dignity of Parliament is maintained.

Get live Share Market updates, Stock Market Quotes, and the latest India News and business news on Financial Express. Download the Financial Express App for the latest finance news.

First published on: 07-07-2014 at 02:26 IST
Market Data
Market Data
Today’s Most Popular Stories ×