Winter session: Ordinance-related bills to be govt's top priority

New Delhi: With the land ordinance allowed to lapse, the government’s priority will now be to take up three other ordinance-related bills fast as Winter Session of Parliament begins on 26 November. [caption id=“attachment_2516722” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Two of these bills are The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to deal with cheque bounce cases; and The Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts and Commercial Bill, 2015 that enables the creation of commercial divisions in high courts. Another bill is needed to convert The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 into an Act, which was brought to achieve the purpose of speedy settlement of disputes via arbitration. As the Monsoon Session remained a near wash out and Opposition parties have closed ranks to corner the government on various issues in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha even in Winter Session, the government floor managers are working out a strategy to pass the less contentious bills. They are also discussing ways for clearing the crucial GST bill amid indications from Congress that it may not stonewall the measure. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will meet leaders of NDA in both Houses on Tuesday, a day before he holds an all party-meeting on 25 November to reach out to Opposition to help the government pass the key bills. There are eight pending bills in Lok Sabha and 11 in Rajya Sabha. Key bills include the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Land Bill, which is pending before a Joint Committee of Parliament. The government is unlikely to move fast on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill 2015 after giving indications that it would prefer the state governments to frame their own bills. Other important pending bills are The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, The Repealing and Amending (Third) Bill, The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, The Consumer Protection Bill, The High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, and The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill. PTI