With just seven more working days left for the Winter Session of Parliament to conclude, the Government plans to push through all the remaining legislative business in one go. The fourth week of the current Session, beginning on Monday, assumes importance since the Government proposes to move reform-oriented Bills — the Insurance laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, and the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 — for consideration and passing in both the Houses of Parliament.
While the Insurance Bill seeks to raise the FDI limit in the capital-starved insurance sector, the Companies Bill aims at enhancing the ease of doing business. The lokpal and lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2014 is also proposed to be taken up in both the Houses.
According to sources, the Government plans to push through at least eight more Bills in the last lap.
Officials said, if the two Houses function smoothly, the current Winter Session could register a record performance in transaction of legislative business. The total number of Bills passed by both the Houses so far is nine.
While the lok Sabha has already passed 13 Bills in the first three weeks of the Session, ending on December 12, the Rajya Sabha has cleared nine of them.
The Upper House is still to take up four Bills passed by the lower House — namely the Appropriation Bill,2014, Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014.
The legislative business — transacted during the 15 sittings of the current Session, and the Bills likely to be taken up during the remainder of the Session of seven sittings — will surpass the 12 passed Bills by a wide margin during the Budget Session.
Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha lags behind the lower House in terms of number of Bills passed on account of continuous disruptions for four days during the second week of the session on the issue of some observations made by BJP MP Sadhavi Niranjan Jyoti.
The Bills proposed by the Government for consideration and passing in the lok Sabha include, The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill,2014, The National Capital Territory of Delhi laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014,The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014, The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Warehousing Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
Apart from the four Bills to be discussed in the Upper House as passed by the lower House, the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha has also allocated time for consideration of The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Public Premises Bill, 2014. Time has also been allocated for taking up two motions in Rajya Sabha relating to annulment and modification of the central government’s notification of December 2, 2014 seeking to increase the Basic Excise Duty on petrol and diesel.