This Article is From Jul 31, 2014

Modi Government's First Big Reform Push Hits Opposition Roadblock

Modi Government's First Big Reform Push Hits Opposition Roadblock

The Narendra Modi government has proposed 11 new amendments to the bill.

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government's first big reforms push, the Insurance Bill, has run into some rough weather. It was not taken up in the Rajya Sabha today and the government hopes to discuss it in the House on Monday now.

The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill aims to raise the ceiling on foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent limit. The Modi government has proposed 11 new amendments to the bill, which already has 97 other proposals made by the previous Congress-led government that need Parliament's approval.

The Opposition now reportedly wants the bill referred to an all-party parliamentary panel called the Select Committee. The government is not keen to do that as it will delay a reform it has promised; it wants the bill passed by both Houses in the ongoing session.  

So it is talking to the Congress. Government sources said the Congress seemed not to have firmed up its stand yet. The sources claimed that there is a faction among Congress leaders led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that wants the bill passed.

Officially, senior Congress leader and former Commerce minister Anand Sharma said, "We will decide after going through the Bill. The BJP had opposed our earlier attempts. We will have to examine the safeguards before taking a decision."

"Most amendments in the bill were moved by Chidambaram...why delay a bill that was the Congress bill? Why should we send it to a Select Committee? Let them vote against their own bill," an NDA minister said.  

The Congress' move is a tit-for-tat for action. The bill to raise the cap on FDI in insurance to 49 per cent was first moved in the Rajya Sabha by the Congress-led UPA in 2008; it has been hanging fire since.

When the BJP was in opposition it had opposed raising the cap on FDI in insurance from 26 per cent. Last year, it said it was not against raising the FDI cap, but wanted to "safeguard the interests of the people".

The BJP-led NDA has a brute majority in the Lok Sabha and the bill will sail through there. But it first needs to get it through the Rajya Sabha where the BJP is in a minority and will need the Congress' help. 
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