Clear legislative logjam

Apropos of the news report “45 Bills pending in Rajya Sabha, some introduced 30 years ago”, (FE, June 15), it is intriguing to learn that such a large number of Bills are still pending in the Upper House and for so long. The report reveals that the oldest among these bills include ‘Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 1987’, ‘the Participation of Workers in Management Bill, 1990’ and the ‘Constitution (Seventy-ninth Amendment) Bill, 1992’. However, newer pending bills include the GST Bill, the ‘Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015’ and ‘Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016’, among others. Since many of the Bills pending for decades would have outlived their utility by now, they should be reviewed by the government and thereafter be treated as withdrawn, after consultation. It is strongly felt that its deputy chairman would also have no objection to such a vibrant proposal. However, it goes without saying that the united opposition must lend a helping hand in passing of some of the key pending Bills from 2014 onwards. In all fairness, the most important Bill is the GST Bill and it must be passed by Rajya Sabha during the upcoming monsoon session, in view of the fact that almost all states (with the sole exception of Tamil Nadu) have now agreed to the modest GST law. But if the Congress still does not agree, it may possibly be isolated on the D-day. One, therefore, wishes that a better sense prevails over the party’s top leadership and the party acts in the larger national interest. censored. They create awareness across the nation about the canker that eats into the vitals of the society and galvanise the governments into taking necessary action. The censor may cut only touchy communal references that are not crucial to the to the message conveyed in the movie. The filmmakers, instead of focusing on the problem alone, would do well to conclude such movies on a positive note involving a change for the better, based on the opinions and solutions offered by those experienced or successful in solving such issues. The censor should better address the more serious issue of sleaze in films which is being increasingly brazened out in the name of “freedom of creative expression” or the specious argument of “script demands it”.