'Govt for regulators for petroleum, civil aviation, Rlys'
The government is considering setting up regulatory authorities for petroleum, civil aviation and railways, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday.
By PTI |
BANGALORE: The government is considering setting up regulatory authorities for petroleum, civil aviation and railways, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday.
Delivering his address at the 14th annual convocation of the National Law School of India University here, he said that regulation in banking, commodity futures market, capital market, insurance, telecommunications and power are in place and are reasonably well-established.
Chidambaram said regulators for competition policy and pension are in different stages of formulation.
"Some more...petroleum, civil aviation and railways are under consideration", he said. "The list is a long one and is expected to grow longer".
Stressing the need for taking up legal reforms, Chidambaram said some of the old laws are incompatible and inconsistent with modern economy and economic reforms.
According to him, there are 3,500 central laws in force; there may be 25,000 to 30,000 state laws in addition to a substantial number of subordinate legislations.
"Single collection of putting all these together in one website does not exist", Chidambaram said. "Old laws can have clauses that are incompatible with the modern economy".
Pointing out that there are 45 central acts directly pertaining to labour in addition to a large body of acts that indirectly concerns it, he said: "many inconsistencies have crept in".
Citing the weekly holiday act of 1942 and shops and establishments act of 1948, Chidambaram said they require every shop or establishment to be closed for a day in a week. "This is inconsistent with the 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year mission of modern retailing of call centre".
The acts also require repainting or rewarnishing of inside walls at least once every five years. "These kinds of retailing prescriptions are inconsistent with the process of economic reforms," he said.
Chidambaram expressed concern over the considerable delay in execution of major projects, resulting in time and cost overruns.
"Of the 742 projects, each with a value of Rs 20 crore or more, 269 are still in different stages of implementation with time overruns of three to 252 months and cost overruns of Rs 30,420 crore", he said.
Delivering his address at the 14th annual convocation of the National Law School of India University here, he said that regulation in banking, commodity futures market, capital market, insurance, telecommunications and power are in place and are reasonably well-established.
Chidambaram said regulators for competition policy and pension are in different stages of formulation.
"Some more...petroleum, civil aviation and railways are under consideration", he said. "The list is a long one and is expected to grow longer".
Stressing the need for taking up legal reforms, Chidambaram said some of the old laws are incompatible and inconsistent with modern economy and economic reforms.
According to him, there are 3,500 central laws in force; there may be 25,000 to 30,000 state laws in addition to a substantial number of subordinate legislations.
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"Single collection of putting all these together in one website does not exist", Chidambaram said. "Old laws can have clauses that are incompatible with the modern economy".
Pointing out that there are 45 central acts directly pertaining to labour in addition to a large body of acts that indirectly concerns it, he said: "many inconsistencies have crept in".
Citing the weekly holiday act of 1942 and shops and establishments act of 1948, Chidambaram said they require every shop or establishment to be closed for a day in a week. "This is inconsistent with the 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year mission of modern retailing of call centre".
The acts also require repainting or rewarnishing of inside walls at least once every five years. "These kinds of retailing prescriptions are inconsistent with the process of economic reforms," he said.
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Chidambaram expressed concern over the considerable delay in execution of major projects, resulting in time and cost overruns.
"Of the 742 projects, each with a value of Rs 20 crore or more, 269 are still in different stages of implementation with time overruns of three to 252 months and cost overruns of Rs 30,420 crore", he said.
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