Productive winter session so far, but hurdles ahead

Bills that are central to economic liberalisation, such as the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, and the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014, will come up in both Houses of Parliament in the coming week.

The winter session has been more productive than the one previous year, for both the Houses. In 2013, Rajya Sabha managed to do only 29 per cent business, and Lok Sabha an abysmal six per cent in the session. This year, the Lok Sabha has already passed 13 Bills and the Rajya Sabha, nine.

Unlike previous Parliament, where the Lok Sabha held up the Bills, this time, the Rajya Sabha - where the ruling National Democratic Alliance does not have a majority - the Opposition is trying to exact a price for its cooperation.

Four Bills - Appropriation Bill, 2014; Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014; Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014, and Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill - cleared in the Lok Sabha are likely to come up in the Upper House next week. If the government is not careful about courting controversies, the Opposition can pounce upon it and the Bills could be derailed.

The Opposition is already claiming the government has virtually abandoned the Standing Committee and Select Committee consultations. If the clamour for referring the Bills to the two committees grows, the process of clearing them 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 Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014; National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Amendment Bill, 2014; Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014; Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill, 2010, and Warehousing Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2014.