M A I N   N E W S

Clearing a slew of Bills is govt’s agenda this winter session
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, November 21
As the Opposition prepares to put the UPA government on the mat in the winter session of Parliament commencing tomorrow, there is serious concern in the ruling coalition that its heavy legislative agenda could suffer due to repeated disruptions.

Already running behind schedule, it has become imperative for the government to ensure the passage of a bulk of the 31 legislations it has listed on its agenda if it is to shake off the widespread perception of a policy paralysis and send out a message that it is serious about tackling corruption. With the last three sessions of Parliament having been lost to periodic adjournments, the government’s legislative business has been piling up.

UPA sources said this session will prove to be crucial from the point of governance. If the three-week session is also consumed by walkouts and disruptions, the government will be staring at a massive backlog of pending Bills by the time it meets in February for the budget session. “By then, we could even have a backlog of nearly 90 to 100 Bills,” remarked a senior UPA minister, adding that the budget session is primarily devoted to financial business.

Besides, tensions between the government and the opposition are bound to escalate during that period as the two sides will be locked in an electoral battle in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal pointed out that the winter session is to devoted mainly to legislative business. The first two years of a government, he said, are devoted to the preparation of legislations which are then sent to the Parliamentary standing committees. “It is only in the third year that the Bills are finalised and are ready for passage,” he added.

Worried that the session may be hijacked by the opposition once again, Bansal told the all-party meeting convened last week by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, that the government will agree to debate any issue they raise but it should reciprocate by passing two Bills everyday. Although it readily agreed to this suggestion at the meeting, the opposition has made it amply clear it is going to up the ante on the issue of corruption. The Opposition is well aware that the government needs its cooperation as it does not have the numbers in the Rajya Sabha to push through its legislative agenda.

Given the line-up in the Upper House, Parliamentary managers have their task cut out for them. They will have to walk the extra mile to reach out to the opposition and build consensus on key legislations. Finance minister and Lok Sabha leader Pranab Mukherjee made a start with a recent meeting with BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

Having been on the backfoot on the issue of corruption, the UPA government has lined up a slew of anti-graft Bills for the coming session. While the controversial Lokpal Bill, being given final shape by the Parliamentary standing committee, tops the list, other legislations on the agenda are the Whistle Blowers Bill and the Judicial Standards and Accountablity Bill.

In its effort to give the much-required push to its stalled reforms agenda, the UPA government has listed several economic Bills for passage. This includes the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill (PFRDA), which provides for 26 per cent foreign investment in the pension sector.