Faultlines in federalism to be evident in debates, says Chakshu Roy

Coming to this year's Budget Session, there were only 15 Bills pending before Parliament since the start of the 17th LS in 2019, says Roy

Chakshu Roy is an expert on the rules and procedures of Parliament and its functioning. He heads the legislative and civic engagement initiatives at PRS Legislative Research — a body that monitors the working of Parliament. In an interview to Aditi Phadnis, Roy evaluates the Budget session that will conclude on April 8 and says the faultlines in Indian federalism will be evident in debates. Edited excerpts:

What has been the overall performance of the two Houses of Parliament during the Budget session?

The Budget session is the longest session of the year. Parliament typically works for 30-35 days during the session.  The Budget session is also the time for the government to indicate its legislative agenda for the year. 

The five state elections cast a shadow on the first half of the Budget session this year. At the start of the session, the Prime Minister urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to make the most of the session. He said: “It is true sessions and discussions also get affected due to frequent elections. But I would pray to all respected MPs that elections are in their place, they will continue, but the Budget session is very important because it draws up plans for the entire year”.

But as the elections drew closer, and restrictions on physical campaigning eased, attendance in Parliament declined. Usually, the Lok Sabha (LS) has more than 80 per cent attendance. On February 11, when the first half of the Budget session ended, only 46 per cent of MPs signed the attendance register for that date. On the plus side, there was hardly any disruption of proceedings of the two Houses, unlike what Parliament witnessed in the Monsoon and Winter sessions of 2021.

What is the legislative policy agenda that is yet to be completed? 

Coming to this year’s Budget Session, there were only 15 Bills pending before Parliament since the start of the 17th LS in 2019. The government was planning to introduce 14 new Bills in this session. So far, only five have been introduced. Bills like the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, (which seeks to introduce substantive provisions to address the needs of new-age markets) and the Emigration Bill, 2022, (which establishes a comprehensive emigration management framework) are yet to be introduced. 

Between 2014 and 2019, Parliament passed approximately 130 Bills. So far, the current LS has passed a similar number of laws and as the Lower House crosses the halfway mark, there seems to be a slowing down of the legislative pace of the national legislature.

What is your understanding of the three Bills that are controversial: the regulation of cryptocurrency, the data protection law that is expected to rely on the report of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill? Where do they stand?

There has been a lot of buzz around the regulation of cryptocurrency. A Bill to regulate it was listed twice on Parliament agenda last year. So far, the Bill has not come before Parliament. When the subject came up in Parliament, the finance minister had informed the House that consultations were still ongoing. But from this year’s Budget announcement, we know that the government is taxing cryptos. Any income from the transfer of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens will be taxed at 30 per cent. This has come into effect from April 1. 

The JPC on Personal Data Protection Bill submitted its report in December after extensive consultations for two years. The report contained a number of recommendations — one of them being bringing in non-personal data within the scope of the Bill. The committee had observed it is impossible to clearly separate personal from non-personal data. The government is said to be looking into the recommendations to be incorporated into the Bill. 

The Electricity Act, 2003, is the central law regulating the electricity sector and provides for Electricity Regulatory Commissions (ERCs) at both central (CERCs) and state-level (SERCs). A draft Bill was circulated for public consultation in 2020, seeking to make changes to the selection committees of these bodies and other changes to the determination of cross-subsidy. There’s not been much development on the Bill after 2020. 

There are other notable Bills pending before Parliament. Some Bills, such as the Mediation Bill and the Bill to increase the age of marriage for women, are yet to come back from the Parliament committees.

What stands out in this Budget session?

A third of Rajya Sabha MPs will be retiring in the next few months.  Elections to these roughly 75 seats will be one to note. The government will also be nominating MPs to the Upper House. Elections to the office of the President and Vice President will also be the focus of public attention. 

In the coming year, the tension between states and the Union will also reflect in the debates in Parliament. The goods and services tax compensation is ending. In multiple states, there are differences between the Governor and state governments and finally on some issues like national eligibility-cum-entrance test, the position of state governments differs from that of the Union government. 

The government has said that it is on track to hold this year’s Winter session in the new Parliament building. But without strengthening the parliamentary committees and updating the rules of procedures, the building shift won’t empower Parliament to make effective laws and hold the government accountable.