India : parliament

The Parliament's winter session is around the corner. With the government  reeling under successive jolts of financial scams, inflationary pressure and the recent oil price hike, the session is surely not one the ruling party might be looking forward to. The Congress, being the leading partner of the coalition, has its own share of problems. It is the Congress that has to bear the brunt of criticism of the Opposition as well its own allies.

With Dr. Manmohan Singh’s reputation as a prudent economist (leave alone a powerful leader) under the scanner and Rahul Gandhi's dynamism and charisma failing to make enough inroads, the Congress cannot be more worried at any time than it should be now. The relentless petrol price hike may have stolen the fire from many a middle class hearth, but it has surely added some more fire to the Opposition's ammunition. To that effect, there's a huge question on how productive will be this winter session. The government is planning to introduce 10 reform bills in the Lok Sabha in the upcoming session which will begin on November 22.

The ten bills in question are: Indian Stamp Act (Amendment Bill), the Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, Life Insurance Corp (Amendment) Bill 2009, the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2008, Pension Fund Development Authority PFRDA Bill, Regulation of Factor (assignment of Receivables) Bill 2011, Banking Laws (amendment) Bill, the Exim Bank (amendment) Bill 2011, Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debt laws and the Public Procurement Bill. These bills, according to the official sources, are meant to attract more foreign investment, generate employment, bring in higher penetration of e-governance and consequently more transparency in administration. Overall, “it will give a momentum to the reforms and help in inclusive growth," as opined by a finance ministry official.

The case in point is: almost 81 bills are pending in the Lok Sabha that have not seen the light of the day, with some of them waiting to be passed for several years.

The opposition parties are belligerent and allies are unhappy, especially the  DMK that is seething with anger because of the arrest of a number of its leaders including A. Raja and even Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozi. On another front, Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption is giving jitters to the government.

Under these circumstances, it will be a challenge for the Congress-led government to pass the bills. Even in the monsoon session this year, out of the 32 bills that were listed to be introduced, only five could be passed. Even in the Budget Session of 2001, when political scenario was much less intense than today, only 12 out of 20 bills introduced in the Lok Sabha by the then NDA government could be passed.  So, one wonders what will happen this time around as the government is striving hard to pass the bills and the Opposition is armed with a slew of serious issues against it and is in no mood to give any space to the government to bounce back to public favour. Surely, a stormy session is ahead.