No major financial bills will make to Parliament this session

A beleaguered government is not going to push through any of the major financial sector bills in the remainder of this Parliament session.

Senior government officials say that barring the National Housing Bank Amendment Bill, no major Bill -- not even the Banking Bill which the Cabinet has cleared -- will make it to Parliament by May 22, the last day of this Budget session.

As for the Insurance bill, it has already been "deferred" much to everyone's surprise, while the Pension Reforms Bill has fallen victim to politics (as ruling NDA ally Trinamool Congress is staunchly opposed to it).

The Banking Bill has already become a much-watered-down version of its original draft in the process of clearance by the Cabinet last month-end, but it, too, will not be tabled in this session.

Significantly, last week, the Cabinet took up the much-awaited Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, but -- to everyone's surprise --

it was "deferred" at the last moment, citing a need for "wider political consensus".

The government says it does not now find it necessary to bring in the bill, as the sector was not set to witness major changes.

For, the pertinent standing committee and most political parties were in favour of retaining foreign direct investment caps in the insurance sector to 26 per cent.

The other major financial sector bill, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, has not even made it to the Cabinet.
Trinamool head Mamata Banerjee has dug in her heels, refusing to allow one's hard-earned pension to be subjected to market forces.

Thus, the proposed legislation has, for all practical purposes, been relegated to the cold storage.

Overall, it is only the National Housing Bank Amendment bill that will just about make it to the House in this session.

Lack of time is a major reason the government claims is proving to be a stumbling block.