Four pending ordinances will be passed in the budget session of Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday. “Time will be allowed in the next session,” he said, responding to a question. While two of the ordinances were promulgated by the previous UPA Two government, two more were cleared by the BJP-led NDA government -- that was sworn in on May 26 -- in quick succession on May 28 and May 29.
The two that the NDA government inherited relate to amendments to strengthen the provisions of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes ( Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Securities and Exchange Board Act, while the ones promulgated by the current government are The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014 and The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014.
If the TRAI (Amendment) Ordinance cleared on May 28 ensured that the government could appoint Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the AP ordinance was promulgated on May 29, ahead of the official division of the state on June 2.
In promulgating the TRAI ordinance, the Modi-led NDA government has reversed a decision taken in 2000 by the Vajpayee-led NDA administration: the TRAI Act had been amended in 2000 to bar the TRAI chairman from taking up future government assignments.
All four ordinances were tabled by Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Gangwar on June 9. During the tabling of the AP ordinance, the 16th Lok Sabha witnessed its first disruption by members of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The Ordinance relates to the transfer of seven mandals of Bhadrachalam revenue division encompassing 205 villages and tribal hamlets to the successor state of Andhra Pradesh for execution of the Polavaram project. Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh are opposed to the transfer not only on the plea that it would displace tribals but also on the plea that it would adversely impact their power projects.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Mr Naidu said that the budget session of Parliament is likely to start in the second week of July.
