Bill on black money, cleared by Cabinet, likely to come up in Lok Sabha today

NEW DELHI: With the Select Committees on Coal and Mining Bills submitting their report in the Rajya Sabha, the government has decided to bring both the proposed legislations for discussion and passage on Thursday. The report of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Coal Mining (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, was tabled in the House on Wednesday.

Sources said though dissent notes have been moved by members of the Congress and Left, no amendment will be initiated when the bill comes up for discussion and passage on Thursday. Both the bills have been cleared by the Lok Sabha. Two amendments have been suggested by the Select Committee on Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015.

Once this bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha, the government is likely to take the amended bill back to the Lok Sabha on Friday to get it passed. When the two panel reports were tabled Congress members complained that the select committees hurried through the process and the government was working under pressure of the mining lobbies. Some members walked into the Well of the House and forced a short adjournment.

“The government is working under the pressure of the coal lobbies and it has been rushed through by the Select Committee in haste. Congress has given dissent notes as these bills are being passed to appease a select few,” Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said. Passage of the two bills are crucial for the NDA government as the ordinances on which they are based will lapse on April 5 and Parliament is scheduled to go into a one-month recess on March 20. Meanwhile, the bill on black money — cleared by the Cabinet — may come up in Lok Sabha on Thursday.