The United Progressive Alliance government's confidence about getting legislative business done in the monsoon session of Parliament, beginning August 5, might be misplaced.
Although 99 Bills are pending in the two Houses of Parliament, judging by the notices that presiding officers of the two Houses have got, the prognosis for a productive session looks bleak.
This is significant as this session could be the final window of opportunity for legislative business before the tenure of this Lok Sabha ends. Leaders of political parties are privately unanimous that nothing much should be expected from the winter session, as all parties will be in an election mode, readying for the May 2014 polls.
Officials say they are doubtful if the winter session will be held at all and Parliament might just convene for a vote on account. This is because the President might be chary of addressing the two Houses at the beginning of the year, delivering a speech prepared by the government of the day, and then having to deliver another one, possibly diametrically opposite to the previous one, just four months later when a new government takes charge.
Half a dozen notices have already come to the presiding officers of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha that demand the normal work of Parliament be set aside to hold discussions. So, officers do not rule out heated discussions on why these issues should or should not be taken up ahead of scheduled business.
Members of Parliament want immediate discussions on the working of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the disproportionate assets case of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family (based on reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation is going soft in return for his political support to the UPA government), the creation of Telangana, the perpetual favourites of droughts and floods among others.
A dismayed government is viewing the session ahead as a tight time-juggling exercise. Its priority is to clear four ordinances: One on the qualifications for chairman of the Securities Appellate Tribunal; one on food security (providing subsidised grain to 67 per cent of the population); one on the Indian Council of Medical Research’s composition and one on Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
There are 19 Bills related to the ministry of finance alone awaiting discussion and passage. These include the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011; the Companies Bill (which the Lok Sabha has passed but the Rajya Sabha still has to discuss; there are 300 amendments proposed); the Competition (Amendment) Bill; the Public Procurement Bill, 2012; the Multi State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010; the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011.
Faced with this enormous task, the government had considered getting at least some of the Bills passed even if there was a din in the House. But this is not feasible for two reasons.
One, the nature of these Bills has to be such that they can be passed by voice vote, for if even one MP presses for a division (party-wise, member-wise voting), the rule book says voting can only take place if there is “order in the House”. Two, a ruling by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar that no Bill will be passed unless there is order in the House.
"I will not have Marshals present while the House is passing a bill," she had ruled.
In the circumstances, the chances of the monsoon session clearing some legislative agenda seem dim, unless the opposition changes its mind. Officials fear the Houses might see disruption from the first day of the session.
