Live Mint,15 May ‘2015,New Delhi
A day after it
failed to have its way in Parliament with the goods and services tax bill and
amendments to the land acquisition act, the government put up a brave and
resolute face with finance minister Arun Jaitley insisting that it would meet
the 1 April deadline for the rollout of GST and also pass the land law.
A success for the
government would significantly burnish its pro-reforms credentials. It will
also make it easier to do business in India. At the moment, the legislative
intent of the government, despite its majority in the Lok Sabha, has been
undermined by the opposition which is in majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Separately, news
agency Press Trust of India reported that rural development minister Chaudhary
Birender Singh, on a visit to Kerala on Thursday, said the land acquisition
ordinance would be re-promulgated for a third time, given that Parliament had
not passed a 2015 bill pending before it to amend a 2013 land acquisition law.
So far, a united
opposition has derailed the government’s efforts to move amendments to alter a
2013 land law, terming them anti-farmer. Passage of the 122nd constitution
amendment bill for GST was delayed after pressure from the Congress-led
opposition forced the bill to be sent to the standing committee of finance.
The land bill was
referred to a joint committee of Parliament and the constitution amendment bill
was taken up by a select committee of the Rajya Sabha.
“The roadmap which
we have now developed of sending the land bill to the joint committee is
probably the fastest way to get it through,” Jaitley said at a press conference
on Thursday, adding that any suggestions that the joint committee will have are
welcome.
This is the second
attempt by the government to push through amendments to the land bill in
Parliament since it first promulgated an ordinance in December last year.
The 2015 bill does
away with a clause mandating the consent of 80% of farmers for private
acquisition of land and 70% for public-private partnerships. It also does away
with the need for a social impact study involving public hearings examining
people affected by acquisitions, including farm labourers. But it includes an
assurance of jobs for at least one member of the families displaced by
acquisitions.
Jaitley expressed
confidence that if the government worked “overtime”, it would manage to stick
to the GST rollout time-table.
“I would have been
much happier if Rajya Sabha had passed the GST in the budget session itself. I
would have not been cutting it too fine, then, for a 1 April 2016 rollout,” he
said.
GST aims to
economically unify the country and remove barriers across states to make India
a common national market.
“The challenge is
that once the amendment bill is passed, it has to be ratified by 50% of the
state assemblies and the supporting legislation will have to be passed. All
this will have to be done in the monsoon and the winter sessions. I am hopeful
that we can achieve the rollout date,” he said.
Jaitley added that
despite resistance from principal opposition party, the Congress, there is a
wide consensus in favour of GST among all political parties except the All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
“I am confident
that the select committee of the Rajya Sabha will also give overwhelming
support to GST,” he said, adding that the central government’s push for
cooperative federalism has helped it gain the trust of states.
The constitution
amendment bill needs to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha,
where the National Democratic Alliance has the support of 62 MPs. It needs the
support of 162 MPs in the 245-member house to pass the constitutional amendment
bill.
Reacting to the
opposition’s stalling tactics in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said, “It cannot
happen for bill after bill and session after session. It is a serious question
on Parliamentary democracy where the will of the directly elected house is
being questioned by an indirectly elected house.”
“The finance
minister’s statement is more an explanation and reassurance to the industry
that the government remains committed to reforms. But the fact that it had to
refer the bills to the select and the joint committee is an indication of the
inability of the government to fast-track the reform measures it had promised,
given the political compulsions,” said Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst who
is the pro vice-chancellor of the Jain University and director of its Centre
for Research in Social Sciences and Education. “Given the constitution of these
committees, they may not endorse these bills the way the government wants nor
in the timeframe it wants,” he said.
According to
Jaitley, the economy is recovering.
“Inflation is
under control, growth is picking up, fiscal deficit and current account deficit
are under control and the services sector is expanding. We have succeeded in
pushing through most of our legislative business with regard to management of
the economy. Only one or two are left,” he said. “From despondency, we have
entered the more positive phase.”
The government is
targeting economic growth of 8.1-8.5% in the current fiscal. But this is
subject to a pickup in manufacturing, a good monsoon and a cut in interest
rates.
