The Winter Session of Parliament, which starts on Monday, is expected to witness discussions on black money, apart from the introduction, consideration and passage of key Bills such as those relating to the Goods and Services Tax and amendments to the Insurance Act.
This is the second session for the BJP government since it came to power earlier this year; and will be a litmus test for it in getting the Bills passed in the Upper House, where it is a minority. Over 60 Bills are pending in Parliament.
The Women’s Reservation Bill is likely to be brought in during the session. Bills for two recent ordinances — on coal mining and textile nationalisation — are also expected to be introduced.
Additionally, seven reports by the Public Accounts Committee are likely to be tabled.
The BJP, which had made recouping black money an election issue, has been facing the ire of the Opposition, which has been saying that the Government’s recent stance on retrieving the funds stashed abroad was largely on the lines of the Congress-led UPA government’s.
More recently, the Centre announced it would start rolling out the GST regime — a key demand of businesses and investors — by 2016. Some movement on the GST Bill is expected.
Similarly, amendments to the Insurance Act are expected to increase the FDI limit in the sector to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent. This will also enable higher FDI in the pension sector.
The Bill to roll out GST — a Constitutional Amendment Bill — has lapsed, while the Insurance Bill has already been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The Centre is also expected to seek Parliament’s approval for additional expenditure through supplementary demands for grants. This will have provisions to compensate States for the phasing out of the Central Sales Tax.
It is expected that the Centre will provide ₹12,000 crore in this regard.
Pending Bills According to PRS Legislative Research, the pending Bills include: the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill; the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill; the Delhi Rent (Repeal) Bill; the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill; and the Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu stated that the Government would like to move 37 Bills relating to promotion of investments, improving ease of doing business, cooperatives, strengthening of regional rural banks, and higher education, among others.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an all-party meeting on the eve of the session that the Winter Session will be as productive as the Budget Session.