The Hindu Business Line : Legislative work laid low by combative politics

IF THE first phase of the Budget session of Parliament came to an abrupt end amid acrimony and anger over the Shibu Soren issue, the second and final phase that started on Monday looks poised for another disturbed session. If the Shibu Soren was the issue then, another central minister Taslimuddin, allegedly evading a non-bailable arrest warrant, looks to be the Opposition target this time around.

In the first phase, the Opposition, led by the BJP, had stuck to its guns that it would not let proceedings go ahead without hearing something definite from government on Taslimuddin. The Budget session has been jinxed right from the start on July 5. Proceedings were disrupted for a number of days on the issue of the dismissal of some Governors as well as on the question of the continued presence of `the tainted ministers."

The Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, was a sad man at the end of the first phase. Anguish, rather than anger, underlined his comments from the Chair or as well as his post-session remarks outside Parliament. He observed: "Though I feel pained, I wish to forget what has happened in the House during the last few days. Today (July 23), there were many important subjects to be discussed: The issue of our nationals being held hostage in Iraq, the issue relating to the grave flood and drought situation in the country..." The Speaker was not allowed to complete his observation by the slogan-shouting Opposition members.

Later, outside Parliament, Mr Chatterjee, said he had in fact intended to ask the Government to respond on the issue of arrest warrants issued against Shibu Soren, but was prevented from doing so by the Opposition. "As the Speaker of the House, I was not even allowed to read my statement or make my observations. It is a day of great sorrow...This is the first time in the 34 years that I have spent in Parliament that such a thing has happened."

Uproar, pandemonium, bedlam and turmoil, are the words now most commonly associated with reports of Parliament proceedings. The time lost due to disruption of proceedings is mind-boggling. Equally the loss to the exchequer with running of Parliament for a day estimated to cost a whopping Rs 1.40 crore.

There is less and less of legislative business as combative politics takes the centre-stage. Is Parliament meant to wash each other's dirty linen? Because of the privilege guaranteed, members are also insulated from legal recourse for defamation or libel that their charges and allegations may have attracted if made outside Parliament.

Whatever legislative business is done by Parliament, of late, it is generally in a hurry and without proper or serious discussion. Running against time, it has become common in recent years to see Parliament rush through legislative business. No longer do well-informed and learned members get a chance to demystify some of the vague clauses of a Bill.

Ominously, the current phase seems headed for fiercer confrontation, and this does not bode well, considering that the Budget session started with a heavy backlog of legislative business. As many as 30 official Bills were pending in the Rajya Sabha, most of them having a bearing on the finance and economy. Of these, some had been cleared by the standing committees of respective ministries while a few were pending with them.

As many as 28 new Bills were to be introduced, considered and passed by the Lok Sabha during the Budget session. Eighteen Bills were finance-related, quite a few were reforms-specific and needed to be approved without further delay if the liberalisation process was to be carried to its logical course.

Among the Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha was the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2001. The Bill, introduced on April 24, 2001, was later referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce that had presented its report to the Upper House on March 18, 2002.

The Bill mainly seeks to provide for safeguards against the adverse effects of surge in imports on domestic industry. This Bill may be taken up for consideration and passing during the Budget session.

Another such Bill is the Aquaculture Authority Bill. Introduced on February 28, 2000, the Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture. The Committee presented its report to the House on December 5, 2000.

The Bill provides for the establishment of an Aquaculture Authority to regulate aquaculture activities in the coastal areas. This Bill was also slated for consideration and passing during the Budget session.

Politically, the most important Bill, slated for fresh introduction was the Lok Pal Bill, 2004. The Bill, originally introduced in 1990, lapsed with the dissolution of the ninth Lok Sabha.

It seeks to bring in even the office of the Prime Minister under its purview so that the Lok Pal can try even the country's highest functionary on charges of corruption. Significantly, the controversial Women's Quota Bill did not find a place on the agenda of either House this time.

Important among the 28 new Bills was the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2004 that, in the main, seeks to remove the restriction on voting rights to encourage foreign banks to set up subsidiaries and to attract foreign investments. The Seeds Bill, 2004, seeking to regulate the quality of seeds for sale, import as well as supply of quality seeds was another piece of legislation in the area of farm sector slated for introduction.

Another Bill to offer a long-term blueprint for Special Economic Zones was considered to be high on the agenda of legislative business. The Special Economic Zones Bill, 2004, is considered significant in India's sustained push towards reforms. The Actuaries Bill, 2004 will help in the creation of a statutory Institute of Actuaries of India that will regulate and develop the profession of actuaries.

The Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Bill, 2004 will facilitate setting up of credit information companies for collection, sharing and dissemination of credit intelligence.

This is designed to improve credit appraisal aimed at reducing non-performing loans. The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2004 seeks to implement, the proposal of demutualisation of stock exchanges of the Government and enhancing penal provisions to protect investors' interests.

The Central Excise Tariff (Amendment) Bill seeks to align the Central Excise Tariffs with the Customs Tariff and to introduce eight-digit classification code instead of six-digit classification and to enable the Central Government to amend the First and Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff by notification. The Customs and Central Excise Laws (Repeal) Bill, 2004 is to repeal four old/obsolete Acts, as recommended by P. C. Jain Commission. The National Tax Tribunal Bill, 2004 will provide for setting up of a National Tax Tribunal.

The Factories (Amendment) Bill, seeking to provide flexibility in the matter of employment of women during night shift in a factory and The Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2004 to set up the Central Manpower Export Promotion Council and to constitute the Indian Overseas Workers' Welfare Fund are a couple of labour-oriented legislative measures on the agenda.

In the event none of these Bills was even introduced, not to speak of its passage. The only Bills introduced and passed were the Appropriation Bills relating to the Railways Vote on Account and the General Budget Vote on Account.

These were absolutely necessary to enable the government to finance its spending till the Finance (No.2) Bill is passed, possibly before August 31. Of course, the Finance Bill, seeking to approve all budget proposals, was introduced after the Budget presentation on July 8. This, again, was a dire necessity.

With half the session over, it is difficult to see how much of the backlog will be cleared during the second phase. Parliament's main function of legislating will continue to suffer unless the legislators decide to delink Parliament work from politics.

(The author, a former Deputy Editor with PTI, is a New Delhi-based freelance writer. Feedback can be sent to rajamani_rc@yahoo.co.uk)