Mines bill to be sent to Rajya Sabha select committee

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday decided to send a bill amending the mines act to a select committee after nearly six hours of hectic discussions.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, which seeks to replace an ordinance brought by the government was to be taken up by the house for consideration and passing on Tuesday.

However, when the government tried to table the bill, the opposition members said it should be sent to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.

Even though Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pressed that the bills needed to be passed soon to replace the ordinance, an adamant opposition said it will put to vote a motion for sending the bill to a select committee.

Witnessing several adjournments as the members discussed how the bill can be sent to a committee for examination, the opposition and ruling party members were seen arguing if there shall be a debate before the motion for sending it to a committee is taken up.

While the government wanted an elaborate debate, the opposition leaders stressed it was not needed.

However, Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien permitted a discussion following which Jaitley pointed out that the opposition's motion for forming a select committee was flawed.

The finance minister quoted rules and said the members nominated for the committee cannot participate in the debate for the motion. However, several opposition members who had given their name for the panel had already spoken on the motion.

The minister also pointed out that there were no government members in the opposition's list.

"Someone of the stature of Dr. (B.R.) Ambedkar was told either you speak or be a member of the committee," Jaitley said referring to the rules book.

"The motion is infructuous and the bill may be put to vote," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, however, suggested that if the members want, the leaders of all parties can sit on Wednesday morning and decide on the select panel.

Kurien then said a meeting should be held on Wednesday with the leader of the house, leader of opposition, parliamentary affairs minister and leaders of all parties from the house and decide on the panel, and also decide a time frame for the report.

"On consensus of the house, I am not putting the motion to vote. Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, leaders will sit together and put names and time will also be decided," Kurien said.

Earlier, the house witnessed heated discussion over the bill.

An amendment was moved by opposition members including Jesudasu Seelam of Congress and P. Rajeev of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI M), who wanted the bill to be referred to a select committee.

The treasury benches held that there should be a discussion on the bill, which they claimed would be in the interest of states with sizeable tribal populations.

The opposition members disagreed, demanding a vote first on whether the bill should be referred to a select committee.

Members from both the government and the opposition quoted rules to support their respective arguments, forcing several brief adjournments.