The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is planning to introduce the contentious insurance Bill towards the end of the current Parliament session to avoid trouble.
Although the Bill will not be passed during the current session as it is to be referred to a Parliamentary standing committee, UPA floor managers don’t want to face strong resentment in the initial days of the session which might take a toll on other business.
“The insurance Bill has a long way to go before it gets passed in Parliament. Why should we concentrate on that Bill now? There are other priority issues for the government,” said a senior minister. Basudeb Acharia, leader of the CPI(M) in the Lok Sabha, told Business Standard, “we will oppose even the introduction of the Bill.”
The Union Cabinet had approved the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2008, this October for comprehensive amendment of insurance laws, including a proposal to raise the foreign investment ceiling from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.
Apart from raising the foreign investment cap, another key amendment has been proposed to give room to Indian promoters to continue to hold majority stakes in insurance companies. At present, the law requires Indian promoters to lower their stake to 26 per cent after the tenth year of operation.
Although the government was ready with the draft Bill a few years ago, it could not be taken up by the Cabinet for discussion since the Left parties, which were supporting the Congress-led government at the Centre, opposed greater foreign participation in insurance.
Meanwhile, the Congress leadership today held discussions with other political parties on the introduction of the proposed Federal Investigative Agency Bill. During the meeting convened by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee with various party leaders, the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Pranab Mukherjee, said the government intends to introduce a Bill in the regard during the current session of Parliament. BJP and the Left leaders didn’t give a clear green signal but asked the government to discuss the details of the provisions of the Bill before it is tabled in the House.