Pranab prods Parl panel to hasten reform Bills

To put the Insurance (Amendment) Bill and the Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Bill on a fast track, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has requested Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance to review the bills on a “priority basis”.

The committee will review the two bills during its meetings scheduled on September 9, 15 and 22. “Discussions will start in September,” Moinul Hassan, member of the Standing Committee told Business Standard.

The UPA will be yet again banking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to pass the reforms bills, after the main opposition helped the government see through the controversial Civil Nuclear Liability Bill.

A top BJP leader in the Rajya Sabha, where the UPA government lacks a clear majority, however, said the party has not taken a decision on the bills. “When the issue comes up, we will take a call,” he said.

The insurance bill, among other issues, seeks to raise the foreign direct investment limit in the sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

The committee has decided to hold “wide-ranging” discussions on the insurance bill and seek comments from “various stake holders like the trade unions, companies and even from the public domain”, said Hassan. The report will be submitted during the winter session so that the government can take it up without any further delay.

The Life Insurance Corporation (amendment bill) is aimed to raise the minimum capital of LIC to Rs 100 crore from the current level of Rs 5 crore. This bill too, is likely to face resistance from opposition parties. “LIC had never sought any raise in its minimum capital. The government’s move to bring the capital to Rs 100 crore from Rs 5 crore is actually a ploy for future disinvestment,” said a Left leader.