Congress planning to block parliament business: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi, 23 November 2014

Ahead of the winter session of parliament beginning Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday warned that the Congress party was planning strategies to block official business and legislation in parliament,

“The Congress Party had damaged the national economy while in power and wants to pursue the same destructive direction while in opposition.” Jaitley wrote in his latest Facebook post.

He had said the same Friday at the Hindustan Times Leadeship Summit here.

The finance minister criticised the Congress over its lack of issues, saying it was unnecessarily making a public debate out of a public sector bank giving credit to a particular business house, in an apparent reference to the State Bank of India’s MoU for providing a $1 billion loan to Adani Mining for its project in Australia.

“Since when has the issue of a creditor’s willingness to give debt to a borrower become an issue of public debate. It entirely depends upon the debtor-creditor relationship and the credit worthiness of the debtor.This showed a paucity of issues with the Congress Party,” he said.

Jaitley further said that without reading the relevant notifications on the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), the Congress party had described it as being a boon for black money.

“The notification of the KVP clearly shows identity disclosure at the time of purchase of all KVPs is necessary. If the KVP is purchased for more than Rs.50,000, PAN number has also to be given. It appears that the Congress Party had given reaction without reading the notification,” he wrote.

Jaitley also praised Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s successful negotiations with the Americans to resolve the World Trade Organisation (WTO) impasse on the food security issue.

“India’s food security programme has been protected from the imperfection of the Bali Draft as a result of the Indo-US arrangement,” Jaitley said.

Insurance bill on government agenda for parliament session

The government has an ambitious legislative agenda for the winter session with a slew of bills slated to be tabled. The following are some of the important bills expected to be taken up for passage.

* The Insurance (Laws) Amendment Bill, 2008: This bill raises the limit of foreign holding in insurance companies to 49 percent from the current 26 percent.

* Coal Mines Special Provision Bill, 2014: It outlines the procedure for auction of coal blocks that were cancelled by the Supreme Court in September 2014 and will replace the ordinance issued by the government.

* Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Laws (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2014: This allows the National Textile Corporation (NTC) to continue with the leasehold rights vested with it, even after the completion of the leasehold tenure. It will replace the ordinance on the subject.

* Merchant Shipping (Amendment) Bill, 2014: This bill seeks to add new provisions to the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 to comply with the International Convention for the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems on Ships.

* School of Planning and Architecture Bill, 2014: The bill proposes to bring all three existing schools of planning and architecture under one law.

* The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2014: The proposed bill allows for termination of pregnancy for up to 24 weeks.

* The Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014: The bill aims to provide a framework for safer, faster, cost effective and inclusive movement of passengers and freight in the country.

* The Mental Healthcare Bill, 2013: This bill repeals the Mental Health Act, 1987 and seeks to give more rights to the mentally ill.

* The Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013: The bill proposes changes in the regulation of the import, export, manufacture, distribution and sale of drugs, cosmetics and medical devices and to ensure safety, efficacy, quality and conduct of clinical trials.

* The HIV (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014: It seeks to prevent and control the spread of HIV and AIDS and prohibits discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS.

* The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014: The bill aims to ensure adequate safety measures and promote the health and welfare of the workers employed in factories.

* The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill, 2012: The bill seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years of age in certain occupations such as automobile workshops, bidi-making, carpet weaving, handloom and powerloom industry, mines and domestic work.

* The Rights of Persons of Disabilities Bill, 2014: Besides enlarging the definition of disability, the bill states that persons with disabilities shall have the right to equality and shall not be discriminated against on grounds of their disability.

* The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014: It seeks to address children in the 16-18 age group, in conflict with law, as increasing incidents of crimes committed by them have been reported over the past few years.

* The Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, 2014: It seeks to regulate the training of apprentices in the industry.

* The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2014: The bill seeks to prevent people from filing multiple claims against the railways for accidents and defines ‘accidental falling’ to exclude negligence on part of the passengers.

* The Tribunals, Appellate Tribunals and Other Authorities (Conditions of Service) Bill, 2014: It seeks to establish uniform conditions of service for the chairpersons and members of 26 tribunals and authorities.

* Goods and Services Tax Bill: This bill seeks to give concurrent taxing powers to both the centre and the states.