Govt to Opp: help us push reforms

With own partners and allies bent on derailing the economic reforms process, the Government is looking to the Opposition for help to put things back on track.

Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has written a letter to Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Manmohan Singh of the Congress appealing for cooperation to pass 23 finance bills pending in Parliament.

Many of these bills are crucial for second-generation reforms and some of them have been stuck in Parliament for over two years. However, it may need more than a mere letter to achieve results.

In his reply to the Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh has advised him to call an all-party meeting to evolve a consensus on important financial issues. He has suggested that the Government prioritise the bills and then set about finding ways of getting them passed.

8216;8216;The Government doesn8217;t seem to have a sense of priority. There is no point in merely listing the bills that have to be passed. The Government should call a meeting of party leaders and discuss the bills it considers important. The Congress will cooperate in the national interest but there has to be a consensus on what is national interest,8217;8217; Manmohan Singh told Indian Express.

What seems to be worrying the pro-reformers in the Government is that time is running out. By next year, political parties will be in election mode for the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and it will be virtually impossible for the Government to push through an economic agenda that no politician wants to own on the eve of an election.

Once the Lok Sabha is dissolved for polls, all pending legislation will automatically laspe. The ball will then in the next Government8217;s court. But before it can present the bills to Parliament, it will have to go through the same tedious paperwork and interministerial consultations again.

Some of the major bills waiting to be passed are: 8226; Fiscal Responsibility Bill, which is crucial for fiscal management.
8226; Banking Regulation Bill, which will start the process of denationalisation by reducing government equity in banks to 33 percent.
8226; Sick Industries 038; Companies Special Provision Act, which will scrap the Board for Industrial and Financial Rehabilitation so that the Government can introduce necessary legislation to expedite bankruptcy procedures.
8226; Electricity Bill 2000, which will replace the old legislation and pave the way for stand alone generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, including from non-conventional sources.
8226; Convergence Bill, which will create the long awaited regulatory framework for the convergence of the communcations sector.
8226; Coal Mining Nationalisation Amendment Bill, which will denationalise the coal mining sector.
8226; Port Trust Amendment Bill, which will allow the corporatisation of ports to allow for disinvestment in the future.
8226; National Airports Authority Amendment Bill, which will permit the Government to give airports on long-term lease to private companies.