Starting Monday, the Government will make a bid to push through half-a-dozen Bills in Parliament seeking to replace an identical number of Ordinances, including one related to the controversial land acquisition. The Opposition, including the Congress, has already made its stand clear that the land Bill in the existing format is not accepted and their protest especially in the Rajya Sabha will continue.
The Bill related to amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was introduced in the lok Sabha last week and others namely Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, Bill to replace the Insurance laws (Amendment) Ordinance and The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill have been listed for this week.
Talking to the media in Hyderabad, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that Bills to replace six Ordinances on different issues will be taken up first in the lok Sabha. As per the provisions of the Constitution, all the six Ordinances have to be replaced by Acts of Parliament by April 5, 2015. In the coming week, Parliament will function only for three days — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and is likely to work till 7 pm on account of Thursday onwards declared holidays for Holi.
In the lok Sabha, two Bills for replacement of Ordinances — The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2014 — have already been listed for consideration and passing on Monday. Statutory Resolutions disapproving the respective Ordinances will also be taken up along with the Bills.
The Business Advisory Committees of both the lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have discussed the legislative Business proposed by the Government for the second week of Parliament Session and alloted time for different Bills. Naidu said that during the first week of the Budget Session, the Government has moved motions for withdrawal of three Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha pertaining to allocation of coal mines through open bidding, introduction of e-rikshaws and hiking FDI in Insurance sector and the same have been put on hold further to some issues raised by Opposition members.
The Government earlier withdrew the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2014 pending before the lok Sabha before introducing the new Bill to replace the related Ordinance. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2015 is listed for introduction in the lok Sabha on Monday. The Government has also proposed consideration and passing the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which has been passed by the Rajya Sabha last week.
Union Food and Consumers Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan too implored the Opposition to ensure passage of the land Acquisition Bill in national interest. “I implore upon Opposition parties to help in the passage of the land Acquisition Bill in national interest as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already clarified to objects raised by different parties,” he told media at Patna.