Government agrees on sending bills on coal, mining to select panels

NEW DELHI: Government today agreed to the opposition's demands of referring the Coal and Mines bill and the Mines and Minerals bill to separate Select Committees that will submit their recommendations by March 18.

According to sources, leaders of various parties held a meeting with Leader of House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The decision to send the Mines and Minerals bill and the Coal Mines bill to separate Select Committees for scrutiny was taken in the meeting.

The leaders of opposition parties and Government also finalised the two committees which will look into each of the bills, the sources said.

Each committee will comprise of 19 members and will have to submit their recommendations to the House by March 18.

Both the panels will be headed by BJP members, the sources said.