A day after President Pranab Mukherjee expressed displeasure over the “Ordinance route of Governance,” top Government Ministers went into a huddle at a meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday to discuss ways to replace the recently-promulgated six Ordinances with Bills in the Budget Session. These Ordinances, relate to allocation of coal blocks and other minerals, land acquisition, introduction of e-rickshaws, enhancing FDI in the insurance sector and citizenship to overseas Indians.
Defending the Centre’s move, Venkaiah Naidu said Ordinances were issued in “compelling situations” in the larger interests of the country to create a favourable climate for investment and revive the economy. He sought the Opposition’s cooperation in the coming Budget Session to get these cleared by Parliament.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, law Minister Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Sources Piyush Goyal, Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Surface Transport Pon Radhakrishnan and MoS for ParliamentaryAffairs MA Naqvi — along with Secretaries of respective Ministries — were present at the meeting.
Incidentally, the Cabinet Committee of Parliamentary Affairs will meet on Wednesday to decide the schedule for the Budget Session. The Ministers also discussed the implications on some sectors like coal and mines if the Ordinances were not followed up by passage of Bills in Parliament. Naidu asked the Secretaries of the Ministers concerned to complete necessary preparatory action by the first week of February before they meet again for stock taking.
While appealing to the Opposition to respect the people’s mandate, Naidu said because of the clear mandate after a gap of 30 years, the lok Sabha is able to approve Bills after thorough discussions. “So it is incumbent upon Rajya Sabha to discuss and debate. Instead they are blocking the House and not allowing it to function. Those were the peculiar circumstances for which Ordinances were issued,” the Minister said.
The NDA Government’s Cabinet has cleared a total of 11 Ordinances in the seven months since it took charge in May last year. Naidu added that the Government was committed to walk the extra-mile to carry the Opposition along in smooth functioning of the Parliament and in the same spirit it would be keen to address the concerns of the Opposition on the Ordinances issued.
Slamming the Congress for calling the NDA Government’s term an “Ordinance regime,” Naidu said that 637 Ordinances were promulgated during the last 62 years and particularly during the Congress rule. “It means 11 Ordinances per year,” he underlined while adding that even the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru brought 70 Ordinances and Indira Gandhi brought 77 Ordinances during their tenures. Rajiv Gandhi was responsible for 35 Ordinances while PV Narasimha Rao got 77 Ordinances issued.