Uttarakhand crisis likely to derail Parliament

If you go by the omens, the Parliament session, which starts Monday, is hardly going to be smooth.

The Treasury benches could demand a special session to discuss the Ishrat Jahan "fake" encounter to embarrass the Congress; the Opposition, on the other hand, is set to mount an offensive on the government for imposing President's rule in Uttarakhand.

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If this dashes hopes of the session transacting any substantive legislative business, of bigger concern for some is the government's seemingly bare cupboard in proposing or initiating consultations with stakeholders on legislation that could be taken up in the Monsoon and Winter sessions.

Those in the government, however, pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech in Jamshedpur on Sunday, on the occasion of Panchayati Raj Day, as an indicator of the road map that he wants his government to follow.

Modi said he was ending his government's 10-day-long Gram Uday se Bharat Uday campaign with the resolve that for the remainder of his government's tenure, until 2019, he will use each paisa as well as each moment to realise his dream of bringing development to India by heralding progress in its villages.

Both, in his monthly broadcast Mann ki Baat on Sunday morning and later the speech in Jamshedpur, his focus was on the farmers and the poor. The PM said there was enough money with the government, ample policies and programmes for welfare of villages and no lack of vision. But it was important to suitably implement all this.

Bharatiya Janata Party economic cell spokesperson Gopal Agarwal said the government has initiated several reforms, in real estate and insurance sectors.

"But the Congress is bent on disrupting. We believe much can be done by giving a corruption-free administration, through executive decisions and by improving existing laws," he said, pointing at how the Modi government has made Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) more effective by utilising it for asset creation, including digging of ponds.

"The message from BJP President Amit Shah is to communicate the good work of our government to the people rather than joining in mudslinging with the Congress," Agarwal said.

A government source said the revocation of industrialist Vijay Mallya's passport was yet another proof of the intent of the government, compared to the "corrupt rule of the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance)."

There is increased urgency in the government over not making full use of its first two years, having spent the time in focusing on Assembly polls.

On Sunday, PM Modi told a conference of chief ministers and chief justices how several Opposition leaders raised the issue of holding the Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls together since much time is wasted because of the model code of conduct, which comes into force a few days before the polling.

The government, however, is hopeful that it can ensure the passage of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code during the current session of Parliament.

This, it believes, will make banks bolder in writing off and restructuring loans and improve the health of the economy. The stand-off on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill is likely to continue.

The session is likely to see disruptions on the Uttarakhand issue, too.

The Lok Sabha is slated to take up discussions on demands for grants of the Railway ministry and the related Appropriation Bill for 2016-17 on April 26.

This will be followed by a discussion on demands for grants of the ministries of development of north-eastern region, housing and urban poverty alleviation, skill development and entrepreneurship, social justice and empowerment and civil aviation.

The Rajya Sabha will discuss the working of the ministries of health & family welfare, human resource development, finance, micro, small and medium enterprises and external affairs.

Then, the Finance Bill, 2016, and application of guillotine will be taken up. The time for discussion and voting on these demands for grants is allocated by the Speaker. On the last of the allotted days, the Speaker puts all the outstanding demands to the vote. This device is known as "guillotine".

The session will have 15 sittings. During the last session of Parliament between February 23 and March 16, both the Houses had 16 sittings. The Lok Sabha passed nine Bills, while the Rajya Sabha cleared 11 Bills. Ten Bills were passed by both the Houses, including the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Sunday held the customary all party meeting before the start of a fresh session. The Budget session was prorogued in end-March to facilitate the promulgation of ordinances brought in by the government. This is a fresh session for the two Houses.

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WORK ON CARDS

• Demands for grants and working of 11 ministries to be discussed - 6 in the Lok Sabha, 5 in the Rajya Sabha
   
• Railways Appropriation Bill
   
• Finance Bill and application of guillotine
   
• Uttarakhand ordinances, including ratification of President's rule and enemy property ordinance