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The Winter Session of Parliament ended on Wednesday without the passage of two key economic reform Bills — on Goods and Services Tax and Bankruptcy law. Both aimed to improve India’s “ease of doing business” quotient — a key focus area for the Modi government.
Blaming the Congress for playing an “obstructionist” role, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said: “We have not given up hope on the GST Bill”.
He lashed out at the Congress for “stalling” the session “by invention of excuses on a daily basis”, adding that “they (Congress) are blaming us, but we had offered solutions on all three issues raised by them (on the GST). Yet, they obstructed the House.” Briefing the media, Naidu said: “There was significant scope for serious negotiations on the GST Bill further to the submission of the report by the Chief Economic Advisor…but it was again sabotaged, and I did not find the expected seriousness on the part of Congress to take it forward,” adding that this was part of the principal Opposition party’s “pre-session strategy” to not allow its passage.
While the GST Bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in minority, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has referred the Bankruptcy Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee after the Opposition sought a deeper debate. The Winter Session, which began on November 23, was hit by repeated disruptions over issues such as ‘growing intolerance’, the Arunachal Governor’s action, the National Herald case and the alleged corruption in the Delhi & District Cricket Association.
Nine Bills passed As a result, productivity of the Upper House was only 46 per cent. “Nine Bills were introduced in the Rajya Sabha, of which eight were passed and one reform Bill was sent to the Joint Select Committee,” said Naidu.
He said overall, nine Bills were passed by both Houses “without discussion, which is not a healthy trend for democracy”, adding that the “responsibility for this lies with the people who disrupted the House from Day One.”
In contrast, the Lok Sabha saw 110.46 per cent productivity; it passed 14 Bills.
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