It will be a mad race against time. And the government already has too much on its plate. Leaving out the mandatory zero hour, question hour and the time for private members’ bills, the 16-workday monsoon session of Parliament can spare a maximum of only 48 hours to pass the 44 bills UPA government has listed this time, including the much-hyped Food Security Bill.
The UPA government has a heavy legislative agenda in store for the monsoon session that begins on Monday and will conclude on August 30.
The government wants five key bills cleared that need to be passed for replacing ordinances such as the National Food Security Ordinance, the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Amendment) Second Ordinance, the Readjustment of representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Second) Ordinance, and the Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, all issued in 2013, besides the Finance Bill on Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) for the 2013-14 fiscal.
So far, the government has the Opposition’s assurance of consent on just one bill—the one to amend the RTI Act. It is not surprising given the amendment seeks to keep political parties out of the RTI ambit.
A source said the government also has a list of some Bills, which it wants cleared at any cost. The All-Women Indira Gandhi National University for Women Bill, the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University Bill, the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill are some such bills.
Concerned over many key reform bills pending in the education sector, the government has also included draft legislation related to Accreditation Regulatory Authority, innovation universities, tribunals and the IITs in the priority list. The perennially pending Women Reservations Bill is also on the UPA agenda.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (amendment) Bill, Prohibition of Employments as Manual Scavengers Bill and the Bill to amend the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act have already been listed in the Lok Sabha agenda for Monday.
Though Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the government has received “emphatic assurances” from all parties that the session would be smooth, the Opposition is ready to corner the government on various issues.
In a briefing to the media, Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition, said her party plans to raise important issues such as Uttarakhand floods, the economic situation, CBI vs IB spat, dilution of FDI norms and repeated Chinese incursions during the monsoon session.