Fuel price, Covid may dominate Monsoon Session
Parliament will open for the Monsoon Session amid the delayed rainy season on Monday. As many as 17 new Bills will be introduced during the 19-day session. The government is bracing itself for close scrutiny on issues such as rampant increase in fuel prices and the management of the second wave of the Covid pandemic.
Delhi will see stormy weather from Monday, both literally and figuratively, as Parliament opens for the monsoon session amid the delayed rainy season. Seventeen new Bills will be introduced during the 19-day session, but the fate of the eagerly awaited Personal Data Protection Bill, which is being discussed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), is uncertain after chairperson Meenakshi Lekhi and prominent member Rajeev Chandrasekhar were appointed ministers in the last reshuffle. The JPC was to have given its report in the first week of the monsoon session. This looks extremely uncertain now.
A series of meetings were held on Sunday ahead of the session, indicating the seriousness with which both the government and Opposition parties will approach the session. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting of the full Council of Ministers earlier in the week to prepare the government on tackling the challenging questions the Opposition will put to it on the Covid-19 pandemic, especially the second wave. This was followed by a meeting of all parties with the government and a separate meeting of Opposition parties.
Clearly, the government is preparing itself for an aggressive session. The Opposition has said future outbreaks of Covid-19 will be discussed, along with gaps in government strategy that led to the second wave. Loss of livelihood, businesses closing down, and the steps the government has taken to prevent this in the form of various measures, will also be flagged.
However, the government is bracing itself for close scrutiny on other issues as well, including price rise. The gradual withdrawal of subsidies on liquefied petroleum gas, high petroleum prices, and the rise in cost of edible oil are likely to be raised, Opposition leaders said, along with privatisation of state-run entities and issues relating to farm laws.
Ministers and officials from the health, petroleum, and parliamentary affairs gave the Council of Ministers a comprehensive perspective on issues such as Covid-19 management, vaccine availability, reality behind fuel prices, and Centre-states’ revenue-sharing model, at the meeting of the Council of Ministers on July 14.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha (RS) Member of Parliament and floor leader Elamaram Kareem said Opposition parties will try to reach a “consensus” on the issues that are to be raised during the session. But even if there is no
consensus, he said (implying there might not be) the Left parties will raise the matter of privatisation separately.
Several ordinances will come up for finalisation as Bills. The Essential Defence Services Ordinance, 2021 prohibits agitation and strike by those employed in essential defence services. Major federations of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) announced they would go on indefinite strike against the government’s decision to corporatise the OFB. The Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021, has been listed to replace the ordinance.
The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021, is another Bill that seeks to replace an ordinance.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021, seeks to replace an ordinance promulgated to provide speedier, cost-effective, semi-formal, and less disruptive framework for insolvency resolution of corporate debtors in distress.
Among the new Bills to be introduced is the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021. Amid reports that Covid-19 has given rise to escalation in human trafficking, the Bill seeks to prevent and combat trafficking of persons, especially women and children.
Many new faces will be involved in parliamentary management, both on the treasury and Opposition benches. Piyush Goyal, Union commerce minister, is the new leader of the RS and he will fine-tune government strategies, while Sonia Gandhi has reorganised the Congress teams for Parliament.
Despite a subpar performance in the
Assembly elections in his home state of West Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will continue to be leader of Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha, but LOP in RS Mallikarjun Kharge has been asked to coordinate with allies. New responsibilities have been bestowed upon the dissident leaders of the Group of 23, including Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor, who were expecting to replace Chowdhury, but will now be part of a parliamentary group.