House panel defers report on insurance Bill

IN what could be a serious blow to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Yashwant Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has indefinitely deferred finalisation of its report on the long-pending Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill.

This decision comes less than a week after the fiasco at the April 28 meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where UPA members rejected a draft report on the 2G spectrum allocation. According to some Opposition leaders, a new phase of arm-twisting between the UPA and an irked Opposition has set in, which could lead to stalling of legislative sanction to key economic reforms.

Opposition camp sources told Business Standard a meeting had been called on Friday to specifically discuss and clear the standing committee’s report on the Insurance Bill, an issue pending before the committee since 2009. But now the committee has ‘Demand for grants for the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ as the sole item on the agenda.
 

IN QUEUE
Bills before the Finance Standing Committee

• Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 
• Constitution (115th Amendment) or the GST Bill
• National Identification Authority of India Bill
• Regulation of Factor (Assignment of Receivables) Bill
• The Direct Taxes Code
• Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill

The change in the agenda assumes significance as the UPA brass, especially Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was keen to roll out the proposed legislation. Apart from mentioning the Bill as a part of the government’s key reforms agenda in his last Budget speech, Mukherjee had appealed to the standing committee to clear its report as early as possible.

According to Parliament rules, the government can’t go ahead with a Bill if it is pending before a standing committee. The Union cabinet, however, has the right to reject the committee’s recommendations.

“I can’t reveal what the earlier agenda was. All that I know is we are going to discuss the demand for grants for the corporate affairs ministry on Friday,” said CPI(M) leader Mainul Hassan, a member of the committee.

Sources also disclosed that the committee’s draft report on the contentious Bill was ready but had not been circulated among the members — an exercise before approving any report — till today.

“As of now, no date has been fixed for discussing the Bill in the committee,” said BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, a member of both the PAC and the Standing Committee on Finance.

The finance panel is currently in possession of six key reform Bills, including the Direct Taxes Code and the Goods and Services Tax Bill.

Even if the committee finalises and gives its report, the government will have to depend on the BJP to pass some of the Bills in Parliament. To pass the Goods and Services Tax legislation — a constitutional amendment Bill — the government needs a two-third majority in both Houses.