File picture of Parliament House. (Reuters)
The government is set to introduce six bills to replace a set of Ordinances in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, this week. Three bills - the coal bill, the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill - will be placed in the Lok Sabha today.
The crucial insurance bill will be placed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, are also listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The old coal, motor vehicle and insurance bills have been pending in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, where they could not be passed in the Winter Session, owing to a concerted effort by the Opposition. The government is in a minority in the upper house.
Now, the government intends to introduce the bills again in Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha rules do not restrict the introduction of a bill in the Lok Sabha even when an older version is pending in the upper house.
The pending insurance, coal and motor vehicle bills in the Rajya Sabha will turn defunct, once the bills for replacing the ordinances are introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The bill to replace the controversial land ordinance was introduced in the Lower House last week, where it met with considerable opposition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, is reportedly not in favour of revising the ordinance. But, in what is being seen as an attempt to propitiate the Opposition, senior minister Nitin Gadkari has said the government is "open to good suggestions" on potential changes. The government is also working on a strategy to enlist the help of regional parties to push the bill through in the Rajya Sabha.
The government had faced Opposition criticism after the Winter Session for bringing in too many ordinances. Even President Pranab Mukherjee had reminded the Centre that government has limited powers to issue ordinances.
Since May last year, the government has used the ordinance route 10 times to push key policy changes, due to its lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha.