New Delhi: The upper house of parliament has lot more work pending compared to the lower house.
In terms of legislative work, at least 45 bills are pending in the Rajya Sabha while the Lok Sabha was yet to dispose of five bills at the end of last session of parliament.
What is interesting is the fact that some of the bills pending in the Rajya Sabha are as old as 30 years.
The Blls pending in Rajya Sabha include the contentious Constitution (One hundred and twenty-second Amendment) Bill, 2014, known as the GST Bill, which was moved in the Upper House in August last year after being passed by Lok Sabha. Another key Bill is the Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which was moved in December last year but the discussion on it remained inconclusive.
In the Budget and Monsoon sessions this year, this Bll could not be taken up. In the Lok Sabha, among the important Bills pending include the Consumer Protection Bill 2015 and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015.
Indicating that the long-pending GST Bill can see a forward movement in the next session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had yesterday expressed confidence that “legislation activity” can proceed at a faster pace.
When asked about the implications the recent Rajya Sabha elections that saw a dip in Congress’ numbers, Jaitley said that with the increase in Rajya Sabha MPs who support the GST Bill, proceedings would not be obstructed. The Congress, the main Opposition, has been blocking the GST Bill seeking amendments.
The last few sessions of Parliament have seen sparrings, even though the Monsoon sittings recorded relative improvement as far the completion of government business was concerned.
Some of the Bills that have been pending for decades include the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987; the Participation of Workers in Management Bill, 1990; and the Constitution (Seventy-ninth Amendment) Bill 1992.
On the Medical Council Bill, the report of the Joint Committee was presented way back in July 1989 while on the Workers Management Bill, the report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour and Welfare was laid on the table of the Rajya Sabha in December 2001, 11 years after it was introduced.
Other important pending Bills are the Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014; The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill 2015; and The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2016.
Another Bill pending in the Upper House since 2007 is the Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007 of the Home Ministry on which the report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs was presented way back in February, 2009.
(With PTI inputs)
