Govt strategises for smooth passage of mines and coal bills

If the Mines and Minerals Bill gets the green flag from the Upper House on Thursday, it can be taken up by the Lok Sabha on Friday

With the two select committees, set up to study the Mines and Minerals and the Coal Mining Bills, submitting their reports to the Rajya Sabha, the government hopes the Bills will be passed by the Upper House. The ordinances on them are slated to lapse by April 5. However, should the Upper House for any reason not take up the two Bills on Thursday, then the government would extend the session till Tuesday.

Parliament was slated to go into recess from Saturday. The two reports were tabled amid uproar from the opposition benches. The fate of the two Bills was discussed at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which decided to hold two additional sittings on Monday and Tuesday “if required” to pass the Bills.

Sources in the government said, “The Mines and Minerals Bill would have to be passed with two amendments as recommended by the select committee. The coal mines Bill has been adopted without any amendments. In that case, the mines Bill will have to be sent back to the Lok Sabha to pass it afresh.” The government has estimated if the mines Bill gets the green flag from the Upper House on Thursday then it can be taken up by the Lok Sabha on Friday and cleared between 12 noon and 3.30 pm after which the House takes up private member Bills.

However, if things don’t go according to the plan, then the government has the prerogative to extend the session by two days.

Opposition members in the Upper House are unwilling to have the first half of the Budget session extended.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad protested against the National Democratic Alliance government for “rushing” the Bills without referring them to the Standing Committee for close scrutiny. He stated that concerned stakeholders, labour organisations, etc., had not been taken on board. Protesting Congress MPs trooped into the well of the House, forcing a 10-minute adjournment.

The government has been emphasising on two aspects to engineer a split in the opposition ranks — states such as West Bengal and Jharkhand, etc., will be benefited by the proceeds of the auction. Also, those opposing the Bill were to be portrayed as being anti-development, as it would entail opposing coal block auctions.

Proroguing Parliament a possibility

With little prospect of getting opposition parties on board for the contentious land acquisition Bill, the government would need to re-promulgate the land ordinance before it lapses on April 5. However, the technical difficulty of doing so within the recess of Parliament would have to be dealt with by proroguing Parliament session after March 20. Government sources said the UPA government had taken recourse to this tactic several times, setting a precedent.