After a prolonged protracted political battle, the Centre has now decided to list the crucial and much-awaited GST bill for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha’s agenda for the next week even as the Congress has kept the cards close to its chest though indicated for a consensus describing the exercise as “constructive and positive”.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, while making a statement regarding government business for the week starting August 1 in Rajya Sabha, said the Constitution (122nd Amendement) Bill, 2014 will be taken up for consideration and passage.
The government is keen to get the GST Bill approved during the Monsoon Session of Parliament ending on August 12. The bill was passed by the lok Sabha in May 2015 and vetted by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee.
With just about 10 days remaining for the end of the current session of Parliament, the government is on an overdrive to build a broad-based consensus among states and political parties.
A senior Congress leader described the discussions with the government on Thursday as “intense, very comprehensive”. “The talks are at a crucial phase. We expect to reach finality next week,” the Congress leader said
The government has also reached out to the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, CPI and CPM while Jaitley separately met senior Congress leaders twice and apprised them of the changes made by the Cabinet.
On July 27, the Cabinet had cleared changes in the legislation, dropping the controversial one per cent manufacturing tax and providing guarantee to compensate states for any revenue loss in the first five years of rollout of the ambitious indirect tax regime.
The Bill has got stuck in the Upper House where the government does not have majority of its own, as the main opposition Congress sought certain changes in it. Government is making efforts to hammer out a consensus on the bill and reaching out to opposition parties.