Govt desperate to pass 3 reform Bills

If the Bills are not passed by Rajya Sabha by March 20, the ordinances will have to be re-promulgated, making the legislative edifice of reform measures somewhat rickety

The government is taking out every weapon in its arsenal to ensure three key reform Bills – the coal, mines and minerals and land acquisition all of which have been passed by the Lok Sabha but need the Rajya Sabha’s assent — are cleared by Parliament before it breaks for recess on Friday.

On Monday, top government sources warned filibustering opposition members in the select committee of the Rajya Sabha, which is examining the Bills and had demanded more time to study these, that if more time was needed, Parliament would have to sit for another seven days, that is, till March 28. As March 28 is Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, both major festivals in south India, alarmed members of the committee said they would meet the deadline. The two Houses are to break for a month-long recess on Friday. If the Bills are not passed by the Rajya Sabha by Friday, the ordinances will have to be re-promulgated, making the legislative edifice of the reform measures somewhat rickety.

More than that it will put a huge question mark on the Narendra Modi government’s ability to implement its economic reforms agenda. If some in the opposition are to be believed, the fate of the land acquisition Bill is tied to the fate of the mines and minerals and coal Bills. The latter two are currently being scrutinised by two separate Rajya Sabha select committees.

On Monday, senior government strategists like Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu were hopeful of the opposition leaders honouring the “gentlemen’s agreement” reached in the chamber of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week on the coal as well as mines and minerals Bill. At that meeting, the leaders of opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha had agreed for these two Bill be referred to select committees and that these committees will give their reports within a week, that is by March 18, leaving the Upper House at least three days to discuss and pass the two Bills by Friday.

According to sources, the chairpersons of the two select committees on coal and mines and minerals Bills – Anil Dave and Bhupender Yadav – said they were confident of sending their respective committee reports by Tuesday evening.

But some Left and Congress MPs reportedly pushed for extending the deadline. Congress’s Digvijaya Singh and DMK’s Tiruchi Siva raised the issue before the Rajya Sabha chairman on Monday. If the committee had been given more time to consider the Bills – ostensibly on the grounds that the transfer of money to the states as part of the coal Bill is unfair and skewed in favour of the Centre – the report of the committee would have been delayed.

So anxious is the government to pass the legislation that it warned delay on the part of the select committee could mean the two Houses would have to sit longer. The warning had the desired effect. The government will need to send these Bills back to the Lok Sabha for passage if the Rajya Sabha passes these with even the most insignificant of amendments.

But there is little hope for the contentious land Bill, other than the government re-promulgating the land ordinance, as amended by the Lok Sabha, when the earlier ordinance lapses in the first week of April. The government has prepared a list of 13 instances when ordinances were promulgated where Parliament was in session but the two Houses were in recess.

The government has planned another round of consultations on the land Bill after the other two Bills are cleared. But the Congress has upped the ante on the Bill. The Youth Congress held a protest against the Bill at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Opposition parties have also planned a ‘Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan’ march on the land Bill. These parties include the Janata Parivar parties, the Left parties, DMK and Trinamool Congress.

“We will not support this anti- farmer land Bill. We do not accept any of their amendments. We want the UPA’s 2013 Bill back,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.