Passing the Bills

The situation has come to such a pass that the mere introduction of legislative Bills in Parliament is considered a major achievement by ...

The situation has come to such a pass that the mere introduction of legislative Bills in Parliament is considered a major achievement by the government. The pride with which the BJP announced its ability to move the Women8217;s Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and the Patents Bill in the Rajya Sabha the next day, was a telling commentary on the state of affairs. In both cases, the introduction does not mean the Bills will soon become part of the statute book. The twists and turns the Women8217;s Bill can undergo when it is reviewed by the joint select committee of Parliament are innumerable.

Much the same is the case with the Patents Bill, although there is urgency to get it passed by April next year to make it conform to WTO and GATT specifications. Precious time has already been expended on both these Bills as can be inferred from the fact that the Narasimha Rao government had unsuccessfully piloted a similar Patents Bill in 1995. As for the Women8217;s Bill, it has been hanging in the balance for almost the sameperiod.

The reason why the government moved these Bills despite the opposition they evoked from some sections in the ruling BJP is that they couldn8217;t do otherwise. The Women8217;s Bill is the result of a commitment the BJP made to voters while the Patents Bill is an inescapable international obligation. Whatever may have been the BJP8217;s views when it was in the opposition, realisation has dawned on the party that it can no longer shelve the Bills.

Other political parties, particularly the Congress, have also reconciled themselves to the need to pass these Bills. Of course, they have differences on certain provisions of the Patents Bill. More contentious is whether the Women8217;s Bill should have a sub-quota for Other Backward Classes. In any case, these are genuine differences that can find expression only in a thorough debate on the Bills. While a consensus is helpful, it is not an absolute must in a parliamentary system where Bills are debated and finally put to vote.

It is for the ruling coalition to ensurethat the official Bills get the necessary support even if it does not enjoy majority support in the House on its own. It is by now apparent that there is some measure of consensus on the desirability of the Bills. This raises the pertinent question: Why should the Bills hang fire?

Procrastination in law-making is not in the interest of the government. The inordinate delay in the setting up of the insurance regulatory authority has been sending wrong signals to the investors, both foreign and domestic. There are a host of Bills like the one on statehood for Uttaranchal which are pending introduction. They will reveal how serious the government is in redeeming its electoral promises.

Ideally, therefore, the government8217;s attempt should be on speeding up the passage of these two Bills. This will make it obligatory for Parliament to start debating on them in right earnest. If necessary the present session can be extended to facilitate the passage of the Bills in whatever form the members desire them to be.There are precedents when Parliament sessions were extended or when members sat till late into the night to pass Bills. Needless to say, parliamentarians should know that where there is a will, there is a way.