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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Monsoon session of Parliament to start on 18 July
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Monsoon session of Parliament to start on 18 July

The Modi government hopes to pass the constitutional amendment bill for the goods and services tax in the monsoon session

The government is also likely to push for clearing a bill, which seeks to replace an Ordinance to amend the Enemy Property Act as well as a bill to replace the Ordinance on the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET). Photo: MintPremium
The government is also likely to push for clearing a bill, which seeks to replace an Ordinance to amend the Enemy Property Act as well as a bill to replace the Ordinance on the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET). Photo: Mint

New Delhi: The cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs (CCPA) on Wednesday recommended holding Parliament’s monsoon session from 18 July to 12 August.

The session will have a total of 20 sittings over a duration of 26 days and the main focus of the ruling alliance will be to push its economic reforms agenda, especially the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the goods and services tax (GST).

The session is important for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government because it has sought help from non-NDA parties to pass the GST bill, which is pending in the Rajya Sabha. The government wants to build consensus among all political parties, especially the Congress, before moving forward with the bill.

“We hope that the GST bill will be passed during the monsoon session of Parliament. There is a broad consensus on the bill, with almost all state governments and political parties favouring it. If some parties still have some issues, the government is keen to discuss the same. Given the importance of the bill, it will be appropriate if GST bill can be passed unanimously," said parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, after the CCPA meeting.

“As the minister of parliamentary affairs, I prefer consensus on such an important bill before exploring other options. Introduction of GST is in the larger national interest and I appeal to all parties to support it," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said in an interview to Times Now, “GST is beneficial for the poor people of the states represented by them... This is why, be it Mamata Banerjee (chief minster of West Bengal), be it Nitish Kumar (Bihar), be it Akhilesh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) or Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), all these states want the GST bill to be passed at the earliest. There is just one group which has made it an issue of prestige. Now the kind of arithmetic which is working out, I hope that this decision is passed in favour of the poor."

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA is in a minority in the upper House, and needs the support of at least 163 MPs to pass the bill. Congress alliance partners Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who together have 12 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, are in favour of the bill, but want the government to first get the support of the Congress.

The Congress party will hold a meeting prior to the session to decide its strategy and what issues it will raise.

“We will raise all the crucial issues, including the recent development on FDI (foreign direct investment), falling exports and state of the economy. As far as the GST is concerned, it is the government that has to decide whether it is brought in this session or not; but before that, the prime minister needs to explain why he opposed it in Gujarat when he was chief minister," a former Union minister and Congress member of Rajya Sabha said, requesting anonymity.

The Samajwadi Party with 19 MPs and the Bahujan Samaj Party with six MPs have both backed GST. The Left parties, too, support the GST, but want to move some amendments to the crucial legislation.

“Before each session, the government says that the passage of the GST is on the cards. We have a longstanding demand that the government should convene an all-party meeting where all the parties can put across their reservations on a common platform and they can be ironed out," said a member of Parliament from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who did not want to be named.

A total of 45 bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha, while 11 bills are pending before the Lok Sabha. Among the key bills in the Lok Sabha are the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015, and the Lok Pal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2014. Apart from the GST bill, some of the crucial bills before the Rajya Sabha are the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016, and the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013.

The government is also likely to push for passage of a bill, to replace an ordinance, to amend the Enemy Property Act as well as a bill to replace another ordinance on the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET).

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Published: 29 Jun 2016, 01:33 PM IST
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