Notify rules within two months of enactment of acts, delay defeats purpose: Cabinet Secretary ticks off ministries

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has ticked off ministries that have delayed drafting rules for laws enacted by Parliament, saying it adversely affects their timely implementation and “defeats the purpose for which these are legislated.”

The letter, written to all Secretaries last month, has asked for a thorough review of all legislations enacted since May 2014 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government where the rules and regulations have not yet been notified. It also suggested a new detailed standard operating procedure by which in future, rules should be notified within two months of the enactment of a law.

ET has seen a copy of the letter.


Gauba had raised the issue with Secretaries in January, too, attaching a list of 39 laws passed last year whose rules had not been notified, according to the letter.

A review meeting with Secretaries is expected to be called soon on this issue.

The letter does not mention the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by name, but rules under the law have yet to be framed even after it was passed a year ago, rendering its implementation ineffective.

ET reported last month that a batch of Pakistani and Sikh refugees living in India headed back to Pakistan after facing financial hardships as their dream of acquiring Indian citizenship was stuck in the absence of the CAA notified rules.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya recently said CAA will be implemented soon in West Bengal, ahead of the state elections.

Gauba has in the letter spelt out a detailed standard operating procedure to ensure that the notification of rules is not delayed.

“An action plan with clear time-lines may be formulated to complete the exercise of notification of such pending rules and regular monitoring may be undertaken to ensure that the Acts are fully brought into force,” the letter says.

It added that for new legislative proposals being prepared by Ministries, the time-frame for notifying rules “need to be compressed” and advance action should be taken for drafting subordinate legislation and ensuring that the process of notifying rules is “completed at the earliest, preferably within two months of the enactment of a law.”

Further, the note for Cabinet should briefly mention the details of subordinate legislations proposed to be notified and status of preparation along with time-lines for their notification post-enactment, it said.

“I would request you to kindly give your personal attention to this exercise,” Gauba has told all Secretaries.