Land bill may go to joint committee

The land acquisition bill may go to a joint committee of parliament while the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill can be sent to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, government sources said on Monday.

According to sources, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad met Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and said the GST bill should be sent to the select committee.

The Congress leader proposed that the committee may table its report on the first day of the next session of parliament, and the legislation can be taken up then.

On the land bill, meanwhile, with the opposition continuing its protest, the government is considering to send it to a joint panel comprising members from both houses.

"A final decision on sending the two bills to the committees will be taken after discussing the matter in the parliamentary party meeting tomorrow (Tuesday)," a senior minister said.

If a joint committee on the land bill is formed, it will have majority of BJP members in it as it is the ruling party, said government sources.

"Usually the joint committee has two-thirds members from the Lok Sabha and one-third from the Rajya Sabha. BJP, being the largest party, will have majority of members," sources said.