Trinamool Congress member Derek O’Brien on Tuesday walked out of the meeting of the Rajya Sabha Select Committee on the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008.
This was the first meeting of the 15-member panel after Chairman Chandan Mitra got an extension till December 12 for submission of the report. According to sources, Mr. O’Brien walked out after the Chairman overruled his objections to provision of an “incomplete” list of “comments and clauses” to members. The meeting would be “infructuous” and “misleading”, the TMC member is reported to have said.
The TMC is opposed in principle to FDI in insurance, defence, pension and rail sectors.
The Insurance Bill seeks to amend the Insurance Act, 1938, the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972, and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999. It seeks to raise the cap on foreign direct investment in insurance joint ventures from 26 per cent to 49.
The Bill was referred to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee on August 14 after the Congress and other opposition parties objected to it.
The panel will submit its report before December 12.
