Governor clears 15 Bills passed in Budget Session,16 still pending

Sources in the state government said,“The Governor has cleared 15 Bills in a very short span. The important Bills that have been cleared include the Green Cess Bill,Money Laundering (Control) Bill,Gujarat Short Title Bill etc. Others are minor or appropriation Bills.”

The Green Cess Bill was introduced by the state government to levy 0.20 paisa cess on every unit of electricity consumed in the state and the money collected through this cess will be used to fund green energy projects.

The Money Laundering (Control) Bill aims to control illegal practices by private moneylenders. The law will make registration of moneylenders compulsory and will allow only the registered moneylenders to do business. Strict rules will be made for lending money and governing rates of interest.

The Gujarat Short Title Bill is meant for replacing the Bombay prefix from all the Acts in Gujarat. After the formation of Gujarat,no titles of old Acts were amended.

Other important Bills cleared include Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2011,Gujarat Fisheries Act (Amendment),Gujarat Anatomy Act etc.

The important Bills still pending with the Governor are: Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorised Development Bill,2011 (aimed at regularization of the illegal constructions in the state by levying an impact fee),Gujarat Public Trust Bill,2011,Golden Jubilee Sports University Bill,Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill,2011,and Bombay Land Revenue (Gujarat Amendment) Bill 2011,among others.