by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Four parties oppose
|
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Dec. 10 |
Decks seems to have been cleared for the passage of the controversial Insurance Bill in the Rajya Sabha with the Congress lending its support to hiking foreign investment cap to 49 per cent.
With the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha presenting its report on Wednesday as scheduled and the Cabinet accepting most of the 110 amendments proposed by various parties, the prospects of passage of the Bill have brightened. Though only four members representing CPI-M, TMC, SP and JDU out of 15 opposed hike from the present 26%, the government signaled it would ensure passage before December 24. The Bill will be brought before the RS next week, indicated the parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
The Select Committee appointed in August recommended after marathon deliberations that the composite cap of 49 per cent should be inclusive of all forms of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investments. The Bill was held up for nearly six years on account of BJP's opposition and now other parties are opposing it as the BJP has taken a U-Turn.
One of the suggestions being given by these four parties is that let the Bill be considered and passed during the Budget Session. But the government doesn't seem to be willing to heed to the suggestion. The panel, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra, has suggested inclusion of a person from the insurance industry in the Securities Appellate Tribunal as an expert.
It has recommended suitable amendment to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act for the inclusion. The panel also recommended that penalties on insurance companies be linked to seriousness of offences committed by them. It has suggested mechanism to ensure that there is minimum scope for subjective interpretation.
The panel report, however, contains dissent notes from four members -- P Rajeev (CPI-M), Derek O"Brien (TMC), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) and K C Tyagi (JDU).
In the House of 243 Members, the four parties together have a combined strength of 50.
|
