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Bills that are central to economic liberalisation like the Insurance Laws (Amendment)Bill, 2008 and Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 will come up in both Houses of Parliament in the coming week.
Comapred to the Winter Session of 2013 when Rajya Sabha did 29% of the business it was supposed to have, and Lok Sabha that could do just 6% of the business, the Winter session of 2014 has been extremely productive so far with the Lok Sabha having already passed 13 bills and the Rajya Sabha nine.
Unlike the previous Parliament when it was the Lok Sabha that held up most of the business, in this House it is Rajya sabha where the Opposition is looking to exact a price for its co-operation. The ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Four bills that have been cleared by the Lok Sabha are likely to come up in the Upper House next week - The Appropriation Bill, 2014, Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill – could be derailed if the government is not careful about raking up political controversies that the opposition can seize upon.
Already the opposition says that the government has virtually abandoned Standing Committee and Select Committee consultations which is undemocratic. If the clamour for referring bills to the two sets of committees grows, the process of clearing this bills legislatively could be delayed.
In addition, the Bills proposed by the government for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha during the rest of the session include the Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014, the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014, the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014, the Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and the Warehousing Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
In addition to the four Bills to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha as passed by the Lower House, the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha has also allocated time for consideration of The Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010 and The Public Premises Bill, 2014.
