Centre will go all out to get key Bills passed

The Centre has finalised a strategy to get key legislations, such as those on Land, Coal and Insurance, passed during the Budget Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin from February 23.

“After all the necessary approvals, notice for introduction of the Land Bill has been given to the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The Bill could be introduced in the early days of the session, followed by discussion for consideration and passage during the first week of March,” a highly placed Government source told BusinessLine , adding that the Centre would like to get more Bills passed in early March.

The Land Bill will replace the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. Barring some strong Opposition voices, the Centre does not expect any problem in the Lok Sabha, where it is in a majority.

But it is likely to face problems in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.

“For the Rajya Sabha, the effort would be to ensure that the House does not face repeated adjournments. Also, the government will not prefer sending the Bill to the select committee. Rather, it would prefer its rejection. Such a situation will help in calling a joint session of Parliament,” the source said, adding that discussions with various political parties are already on.

The Centre and the Lok Sabha Speaker have also called for an all-party meeting on February 22.

Article 108 of the Constitution prescribes norms for calling a joint session, which can be done after a Bill has been passed by one House but rejected by the other, or if there is disagreement over the amendments made by either of the two Houses.

But this is an extraordinary measure to get a Bill passed, if the government of the day is in a minority in the Upper House. Since 1952, there have been only four legislations, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which have been passed by a joint session of Parliament.

However, the Centre expects that if the Rajya Sabha works, there should be no problem in passing the Coal Bill to replace the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Second Ordinance, 2014. Due to repeated adjournments, the Bill could not be taken up in the Upper House, though the Lok Sabha had approved it.

Government managers also feel that with positive signals from the Congress, the Insurance Bill may sail through. The Bill has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2008.

The Modi government has promulgated an ordinance to raise foreign direct investment to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.

Land, coal and insurance are among the six ordinances that were promulgated soon after the Winter Session ended. This was done to give a message to domestic and foreign investors.

Though the Constitution prescribes enactment of an ordinance in the next immediate session of Parliament to prevent it from lapsing, action taken on the basis of the provisions of an ordinance, when it is in place, will have legal validity, even if the ordinance lapses.