Monsoon session: Asking rate too high for Parliament, can it deliver?

New Delhi, Aug 5: Over 110 bills are awaiting parliamentary approval while six bills need to be withdrawn and 14 bills are waiting for introduction. The government has hinted at passing 44 bills, including seeking approval for five ordinances, in the monsoon session starting on Monday.

But the question is: Will the task be accomplished in the 16-day session? For the Opposition is keen to corner the government on various issues ranging from the Uttarakhand floods to Chinese incursion in Ladakh to the separate state of Telangana to the latest controversy over the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The bills have been kept piling as a forced adjournment washed out the last parliamentary session in March. The business advisory committee of both the Houses will identify the important bills for consideration, given the 16-day tenure of the Parliament. The actual days of working will be 12, for four Fridays are reserved for private member business.

The monsoon session will be important for the government's pet ordinance on food security. Other important ordinances awaiting parliamentary approval are Securities Law Amendment Ordinance, 2013, which empowers Sebi to oversee Ponzi chit fund schemes, and the SEBI Amendment Ordinance, 2013.

Nineteen bills related to the finance ministry are awaiting discussion and passage and they include among others, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011; the Companies Bill; the Public Procurement Bill, 2012; the Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010; the Competition (Amendment) Bill and the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

Union Finance minister P Chidambaram is keen to introduce the revised Direct Taxes Code besides seeking the passage of key bills like the pension and insurance amendment bills. Union Law minister Kapil Sibal is likely to press for the passage of the National Judicial Commission Bill.

OneIndia News