The Opposition agreed at an all-party meeting on Monday — with three days to go for the Winter Session of Parliament to conclude — to allow the passage of some bills and to let the Upper House functio
The Opposition agreed at an all-party meeting on Monday — with three days to go for the Winter Session of Parliament to conclude — to allow the passage of some bills and to let the Upper House function normally till the current session ends.
The all-party meeting was convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to ensure that non-controversial bills and appropriation bills can be cleared in the Upper House, which has been witnessing adjournments from day one of the Winter Session.
However, the government failed to get any assurance on the crucial Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the hour-long meeting. The GST Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, has been pending in the Upper House. Speculation is rife that the government will now bring this bill in the Budget Session.
Sources disclosed it was decided during the meeting that the Upper House would pass the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, Appropriation Bills, the Anti-Hijacking Bill, the Atomic Energy Amendment Bill, the Commercial Courts Ordinance Bill, and the Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Bill by December 23.
Three other bills — Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, the Whistle-blowers Protection Amendment Bill and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill will also be discussed. The Opposition, however, wants two of these bills, including the Whistle-blowers Protection Bill, referred to a select committee.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “Nothing new was discussed at this meeting apart from what was discussed earlier at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.”
When asked whether the Congress has agreed to the passage of some bills, he said some of the bills on which his party has committed support, like the SC/ST Bill, will be passed along with the Appropriation Bills.
“There was no discussion on GST. The discussion was on some bills on which there is a general consensus. Everybody is aware that there is no consensus on GST. Not only Congress has some reservations but other parties also,” Mr Azad said when asked whether any decision on the GST Bill was taken at the meeting.
Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “There has been a very meaningful discussion in the meeting. A number of parties have expressed concern over Parliament not functioning... All of them decided that the House should function. It has been decided to pass the pending government bills even by sitting late.”
On the GST Bill, Mr Naqvi said finance minister Arun Jaitley made an appeal to the Opposition to pass the Constitution amendment bill as well in the conducive atmosphere that emerged after the meeting. “But I don’t think the main Opposition party has an agreement on this,” he said, adding that other Opposition parties favour passage of the bill.
Ever since the Winter Session started on November 26, the Rajya Sabha has been disrupted over a variety of issues. Discussions on issues like price-rise, impact of floods and drought on agriculture, intolerance, and political developments in Arunachal Pradesh will also be taken up during the last three days. The House will work extra hours to compensate for the loss of legislative business.
After the meeting, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien said, “The Rajya Sabha was not functioning till today, except that we passed one bill and some other intervention took place. The Chairman was very disturbed and anguished over this. Many of us share that feeling and, seeing that there are only three more days left, called a meeting of the leaders of all parties.”
