NEW DELHI: The all-party meeting convened by the government on Insurance Bill on Monday could not make any breakthrough for passage of the Bill. However, all the leaders have agreed to meet once again in a day or two to discuss the remaining vexed issues.
During the meeting, Anand Sharma (Congress) said his party wanted a clarity on the implication of the proposed Bill inter alia, on the settled definition of foreign direct investment given the composite nature of 49 percent FDI proposed in Insurance Sector, including Foreign Institutional Investment.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the language and contents of the proposed Bill were that of the UPA Government and that no major new amendments were proposed. He noted that most of the amendments suggested by the Standing Committee related to change of dates and numericals and are not consequential.
Both Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu voiced concern over grossly inadequate insurance coverage to the people of the country. They referred to the need to enable sufficient capital flows into insurance sector.
Naidu underlined the government’s willingness to consider suggestions of the Opposition in the matter and said that Congress and other parties should enable passing of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, in the current Budget Session. He assured the leaders of other parties that government is ready for a detailed discussion on the Bill in Rajya Sabha.
With the lack of numbers in the upper house, the NDA government sought to bring Opposition parties on board by saying that it is ready to incorporate their suggestions to ensure the passage of its first major economic reform. Though the government has agreed to defer the Bill for few days, it is keen to pass the Bill in the Budget session itself.
With the Congress adamant, the government is also in touch with smaller parties. After the meeting, Venkaiah said that the government is ready to discuss the Bill with all political parties and wanted to incorporate their suggestions.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said that his party was totally in favour of FDI.
“It is our baby and it was the BJP which was opposed to the Bill in 2008. We were given to understand that our Bill is going to be passed in the House. But the NDA Government has made some substantive amendments to the bill,” he said.
Sources said the government is keeping all its options open including convening a joint session if necessary to pass the Insurance Bill during the Budget session itself. However, it wanted the Rajya Sabha to discuss the Bill. “Let us see how Manmohan Singh will oppose his own Bill in the Rajya Sabha,” a senior BJP leader quipped.