Govt pushed financial reforms in Budget session

The shortest Budget session of Parliament in recent times came to an end on Friday after showcasing the Manmohan Singh government’s preference for financial reforms.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had to deviate from its earlier plans and kept some key legislations in abeyance because of the paucity of time. However, it did take a bold step of introducing the Goods and Services Tax Bill, the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority Bill and the Banking Laws Amendment Bill, among others.

In the Budget itself, Pranab Mukherjee had pledged forward movement on seven reform Bills. The government had already introduced two of them. The seventh one in Mukherjee’s reforms list — the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks Laws) Amendment Bill — was passed in the Lok Sabha during the session.

But the government also had to pay a political price to ensure this important session went off smoothly. After spoiling the entire winter session in the tussle over the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the UPA leadership finally gave up on the Opposition pressure and allowed a JPC on the second day of the session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Friday said the government introduced 11 Bills (including Bills related to the Budget process) in the Lok Sabha and three others in the Rajya Sabha.