Laws get occasional touch-up

VOICE FROM 10 JANPATH PART-III

Until Congress President Sonia Gandhi quit the post of National Advisory Council chairperson in March, she would personally clear some of the draft Bills of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime before they went to Cabinet for approval.

Gandhi has been instrumental in the incorporation of a host of changes in the drafts of several Bills, including the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, the Scheduled Tribes and Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, the Gram Nyayalaya Bill, and the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Bill, among others.

Copies of around two dozen letters exchanged between her and the ministers concerned show how the latter took pains to incorporate her suggestions, in some cases after reminders from her.

Of all UPA ministers, only Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar could say "no" to her. On October 5, 2005, she wrote to him about "a growing perception" that the Seeds Bill, 2004, (which is yet to be passed), was anti-farmer and favoured the seed industry and large seed breeders, including multinational corporations.

She made several suggestions that "would go a long way in removing this perception" and advised that the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act, 2001, be enforced before the passage of the Seeds Bill.

Her arguments have since been echoed by Left leaders and farmer organisations.

Pawar stuck to his guns, though. A month after he received her letter, he wrote back asserting that the Seeds Bill and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act were "two entirely different issues," and postponing the enactment of the Seeds Bill, which proposed to regulate the sale, import and export of seeds and facilitate their production and supply, "will not serve the interest of farmers".

Other ministers have been more than willing to incorporate the changes suggested by her.

On the Communal Violence Bill (yet to be passed), Gandhi and Home Minister Shivraj Patil exchanged about a dozen letters between May and September 2005. Finally, on September 26, Patil wrote to her, listing how her suggestions were incorporated in the Bill and thanked her for "guidance and encouragement".

It is the same story with other Bills. On the Tribal Bill, Gandhi's suggestions to include only tribals in the purview of the Bill (excluding Scheduled Castes) and fixing 1980 as the cut-off date were incorporated in the draft Bill.

The Cabinet had to change these two provisions last week following an outcry from Left leaders.