AND SO THE SESSION BEGINS…..

The Winter session has finally started and we hope that it does not turn into a Cold War but instead does what a Parliament is supposed to do – debate Bills.

The Opposition needs to start developing more patience and stop staging walk-outs as that is neither helping the nation nor is it helping it score any brownie points with the people; they are now appearing weaker. Walking out is very easy but actually sitting down and debating over issues which are not right is what needs strength.

For the Govt too, it has been seen time and again that it might bull doze its ways by passing contentious Bills through Ordinances but ultimately, they never take off unless it has the consensus of the people. Both the Opposition as well as the ruling Govt need to know that they are elected to do what people want and not what they ‘think’ is right for the people. If the Farm Bill had been handled well, if the Govt had sat down with the farmers, debated, had come up with a middle path with a private-public sector participation, we might really have seen a much-needed revolutionary change in the agri sector. If nothing else, hope the Govt has learnt its lessons and sits down to debate, which, hopefully the Opposition will also be mature enough to have.

What days we have come to – we are coaxing the Opposition and the Govt to have a meaningful debate- the cornerstone of any democratic process.

This is 19-day session will see 31 Bills coming up for Parliamentary approval. But then based on the Monsoon session, the Govt can bring completely new laws not listed in its legislative agenda like the one on removal of retrospective taxation on income earned from sale of shares of a company. That was urgent what with Cairn putting the Govt completely on the backfoot.

Currently, 29 Bills are pending in Parliament.  Of these, five Bills are listed for consideration, and passing during the session and five are listed for withdrawal.  26 Bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passing.

Important ones among them:

The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 - Seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India while allowing for certain exceptions that promote the technology of cryptocurrency.  Also, creates a framework for digital currency that will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. 

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021 - to separate the National Pension System Trust from PFRDA and to provide universal pension coverage.

The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 - Amends the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts of 1970 and 1980, and the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to privatise two public sector bank

Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021 - Seeks to strengthen and streamline the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. (This may see a delay as it has invited comments till 15^th Dec).

Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 - Repeals the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (The most contentious Bill and this is what the Opposition to latch on to).

Energy Conservation Act of 2001 – enhance demand for renewable energy and is listed for introduction consideration, and passing.

Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 - de-licence power distribution to bring in more competition

Emigration Bill, 2021 – Govt wants to overhaul the entire process and has called it, “establish a transparent and comprehensive emigration management framework to facilitate orderly migration.”

One Bill, which is not listed but might come up for debate and passing is the Personal Data Protection Bill. The scrutiny process has been completed and most of the points have been agreed upon but for provisions regarding the use of personal data by the government.

It’s a busy session and sometimes we cannot help but wonder if such major decisions, which impact millions of lives are passed, most of the times without any debate within a span of 19-days. Are we legislating right? Haven’t we made a mockery of the sacred process of the Parliament?

As righty said by Heinlein Robert in his book, “more than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest.”