A day after the Rajya Sabha passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and six other Bills, the Opposition leaders criticised the government for rushing through legislations in a near empty House without due discussions.
Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O’Brien said the monsoon session was a sham with no discussions on any important issues, while senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Essential Commodities law, which will only help hoarders and black-marketeers, was passed in an empty House.
Mr. Ramesh, who is also the chief whip of the party in the Rajya Sabha, said the amendments passed to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 erodes the Constitutional rights of the States since it’s a highly centralising Act and will be rendered ineffective when the nation goes through a time of crisis, he said.
He listed out three reasons why the Congress is opposed to the Act. Under Clause (a), supply may be regulated only in the case of war, famine, extraordinary price rise or natural calamity of a grave nature. Under Clause (b), stock limits may be imposed only if certain price levels are triggered. “The manner of reckoning or calculating the ‘stock limits’ attracts the first proviso and the Explanation. Reading the two together, it appears that the stock can be cleverly distributed among different ‘value chain participants’ and, in practical terms, there will be no case of violating stock limits at all,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The second reason is it infringes upon the State’s power. There could be States where the menace of hoarding, he said, is so rampant that the State government may wish to regulate and place stock limits. “Hence, respecting the principle of federalism, the Amendments must apply only if the State government, by notification, applies the Amendment Act in that State.”
Third the Act, he said, gives an opportunity for the hoarders and black marketeers for speculation. “In such a diverse country as ours where the situation may differ from district to district within a State such a centralised law would make it very difficult for the States to check black-marketing of goods,” Mr Ramesh said.
Mr. O’Brien said the issues such as GST, high rate of unemployment, national education policy and economy were not discussed. “The effort was only to deflect attention by calling a sham of a Parliament session. Two persons should be sentenced for life for murdering democracy,” he said.
