Legislative Commitments in President's Speech

Miscellaneous

Legislative Commitments in President's Speech

Kaushiki - February 26, 2011 Comments

The Budget Session of Parliament began with President Pratibha Patil’s address to a joint session of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The session will continue till April 21, 2011 with a recess from March 17 to April 3, 2011. The Railways Budget was presented and the Economic Survey was released on February 25. The Union Budget will be presented on February 28, 2011. The agenda for government Bills includes 31 pending Bills for consideration and passing. Three new Bills are listed for introduction, consideration and passing. The government plans to introduce 32 new Bills. The President made certain commitments on legislation for the Budget Session. We list the commitments made in the speech and the status of implementation.

Issue	President’s Speech	Current Status
Food Security	The law will entitle statutorily every family, below poverty line, to food grains at highly subsidised prices. Important inputs in this regard have been received from the National Advisory Council. The states are being consulted as the success of the programme hinges critically on their commitment to reforms in the public distribution system.	In 2010, an Expert Committee was set up by the Prime Minister under the chairmanship of Dr C. Rangarajan to examine the implications of the proposal of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and make recommendations. The NAC had proposed that legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to be extended to at least 75% of the population. The Rangarajan Committee Report, published in Jan 2011, raised some objections based on availability of foodgrains and subsidy implications.
Corruption	A Group of Ministers formed to consider all measures, including legislative and administrative, to tackle corruption and improve tranparency. The government plans to ratify the UN Convention against Corruption.	The UPA government has formed a Group of Ministers under the chairmanship of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister. The GoM would recommend measures to end discretionary powers of ministers and summary dismissal of corrupt government officials.
	A Bill to give protection to whistleblowers have been introduced.	The Public Interest Disclosure Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Aug 26, 2010. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (PRS analysis on the Bill).
Judicial Reforms	High priority to be given to improving the delivery of justice and reducing delays in the disposal of cases. The details of the National Mission for Delivery of Justice to be finalised soon. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill has already been introduced in Parliament to enhance the accountability of the judiciary.	The government plans to set up the National Mission for Delivery of Justice. A blueprint of the mission is available on the Law Ministry’s website. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Dec 1, 2010. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.
Black Money	The government has commissioned a multi-disciplinary study to understand the ramifications for national security and recommend a suitable framework to tackle the problem of black money. India gained membership to the Financial Action Task Force in recognition of its anti-money laundering and anti-tax evasion measures.	The Finance Minister stated that he could not reveal names of Indians who have money stashed abroad because of an absence of legal framework. Expert group set up to look into the issue. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 was amended in 2009 (PRS analysis on the Bill).
Mines	The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act is proposed to be replaced by a new legislation, which will ensure that local communities benefit adequately from the development process.	A draft Bill was formulated by a Group of Ministers in 2010. It is now under legal vetting before it is taken to the Cabinet for its approval (Relevant documents available here).
Bills related to Women and Children	Government introduced a constitutional amendment bill to provide reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha but is pending in the Lok Sabha. The President hopes that it will be considered in the Lok Sabha at the earliest.	The Bill was introduced on May 6, 2008 and referred to the Standing Committee which submitted its report on Dec 17, 2009. The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. However, it is pending in the Lok Sabha (PRS analysis on the Bill). It is listed for consideration and passing in the Budget Session.
	Introduced the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill. Proposal to introduce a bill regarding protection of children from sexual offences.	The Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment Bill was introduced on Dec 7, 2010. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee, which is scheduled to submit its report by June 30, 2011. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011 is listed for introduction in the Budget Session Alert.
Biotechnology	A Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill is proposed to be introduced this session	The Biotechnology Authority of India Bill, 2011 is listed for introduction in the Budget Session Alert.

Explaining the recent ban on e-cigarettes

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Gayatri Mann - September 19, 2019 Comments

On Wednesday, the government promulgated an Ordinance to ban electronic cigarettes in India. In this context, we look at what are electronic cigarettes, what are the current regulations in place, and what the Ordinance seeks to do.

What are electronic cigarettes?

The Ordinance defines electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as battery-operated devices that heat a substance, which may or may not contain nicotine, to create vapour for inhalation. These e-cigarettes can also contain different flavours such as menthol, mango, watermelon, and cucumber. Usually, e-cigarettes are shaped like conventional tobacco products (such as cigarettes, cigars, or hookahs), but they also take the form of everyday items such as pens and USB memory sticks.

Unlike traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco and therefore are not regulated under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. This Act regulates the sale, production, and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products in India, and prohibits advertisement of cigarettes.

What are the international regulations for e-cigarettes?

India is a signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic. In 2014, the WHO FCTC invited all its signatories to consider prohibiting or regulating e-cigarettes in their countries. This was suggested due to emerging evidence on the negative health impact of these products which could result in lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other illnesses associated with smoking.

Since then, several countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand have banned the production, manufacture, and sale of e-cigarettes. Recently, the states of New York and Michigan in USA banned the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes. Whereas, in UK, the manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes has been allowed based on certain conditions. Further, the advertisement and promotion, and the levels of nicotine in e-cigarettes is also regulated.

Prior to the Ordinance, were e-cigarettes regulated in India?

In August 2018, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had released an advisory to all states requiring them to not approve any new e-cigarettes and restrict the sale and advertisements of e-cigarettes. Based on this advisory, 15 states including Delhi, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh have since banned e-cigarettes. However, this advisory was challenged in the Delhi High Court in March 2019, which subsequently imposed a stay on the ban.

What does the Ordinance do?

The Ordinance prohibits the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution and advertisement of e-cigarettes in India. Any person who contravenes this provision will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of one lakh rupees, or both. For any subsequent offence, the person will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to three years, along with a fine of up to five lakh rupees.

Additionally, storage of e-cigarettes will be punishable with an imprisonment of up to six months, or a fine of Rs 50,000 or both. Once the Ordinance comes into force (i.e., on September 18, 2019), the owners of existing stocks of e-cigarettes will have to declare and deposit these stocks at the nearest office of an authorised officer. Such an authorised officer may be a police officer (at least at the level of a sub-inspector), or any other officer as notified by the central or state government.

Note that, the Ordinance does not contain any provisions regarding possession or use of e-cigarettes. The Ordinance will be in force for the next six months, and must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of the commencement of the next session of Parliament. If it is not passed within this time frame, it will cease to be in force.

The Importance of Parliamentary Committees

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Sanat Kanwar - September 19, 2019 Comments

Last week, the Departmentally Related Standing Committees were reconstituted for the first year of the 17^th Lok Sabha. In this context, we discuss the functioning and role of Standing Committees.

The visible part of Parliament’s work takes place on the floor of the House. Parliament meets for three sessions a year i.e., the Budget, Monsoon, and Winter Sessions. This part of Parliament’s work is televised and closely watched. However, Parliament has another forum through which a considerable amount of its work gets done. These are known as Parliamentary Committees. These Committees are smaller units of MPs from both Houses, across political parties and they function throughout the year. These smaller groups of MPs study and deliberate on a range of subject matters, Bills, and budgets of all the ministries.

During the recently concluded first Session of the 17^th Lok Sabha, Parliament sat for 37 days. In the last 10 years, Parliament met for 67 days per year, on average. This is a short of amount of time for MPs to be able to get into the depth of matters being discussed in the House. Since Committees meet throughout the year, they help make up for this lack of time available on the floor of the House.

Parliament deliberates on matters that are complex, and therefore needs technical expertise to understand such matters better. Committees help with this by providing a forum where Members can engage with domain experts and government officials during the course of their study. For example, the Committee on Health and Family Welfare studied the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 which prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy. As MPs come from varying backgrounds, they may not have had the expertise to understand the details around surrogacy such as fertility issues, abortion, and regulation of surrogacy clinics, among others. The Committee called upon a range of stakeholders including the National Commission for Women, doctors, and government officials to better their understanding of the issues, before finalising their report.

Committees also provide a forum for building consensus across political parties. The proceedings of the House during sessions are televised, and MPs are likely to stick to their party positions on most matters. Committees have closed door meetings, which allows them to freely question and discuss issues and arrive at a consensus.

After a Committee completes its study, it publishes its report which is laid in Parliament. These recommendations are not binding, however, they hold a lot of weight. For example, the Standing Committee on Health made several recommendations to the National Medical Commission Bill in 2017. Many of these were incorporated in the recently passed 2019 Bill, including removing the provision for allowing a bridge course for AYUSH practitioners.

There are 24 such Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs), each of which oversees a set of Ministries. DRSCs were set up first in 1993, to ensure Parliament could keep with the growing complexity of governance. These are permanent Committees that are reconstituted every year. They consist of 21 Members from Lok Sabha, and 10 Members from Rajya Sabha, and are headed by a Chairperson. The DRSCs primarily look at three things: (i) Bills, (ii) budgets, and (iii) subject specific issues for examination. Other types of Standing Committees include Financial Committees which facilitate Parliament’s scrutiny over government expenditure. Besides these, Parliament can also form ad hoc Committees for a specific purpose such as addressing administrative issues, examining a Bill, or examining an issue.

To ensure that a Bill is scrutinised properly before it is passed, our law making procedure has a provision for Bills to be referred to a DRSC for detailed examination. Any Bill introduced in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha can be referred to a DRSC by either the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Over the years, the Committees have immensely contributed to strengthen the laws passed by Parliament. For example, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, overhauling the 1986 law, was recently passed during the Budget Session. An earlier version of the Bill had been examined by the Committee on Food and Consumer Affairs, which suggested several amendments such as increasing penalties for misleading advertisements, making certain definitions clearer. The government accepted most of these recommendations and incorporated them in the 2019 Act.

Besides Bills, the DRSCs also examine the budget. The detailed estimates of expenditure of all ministries, called Demand for Grants are sent for examination to the DRCSs. They study the demands to examine the trends in allocations, spending by the ministries, utilisation levels, and the policy priorities of each ministry. However, only a limited proportion of the budget is usually discussed on the floor of the House. In the recently dissolved16^th Lok Sabha, 17% of the budget was discussed in the House.

Committees also examine policy issues in their respective Ministries, and make suggestions to the government. The government has to report back on whether these recommendations have been accepted or not. Based on this, the Committees then table an Action Taken Report, which shows status of the government’s action on each recommendation.

While Committees have substantially impacted Parliament’s efficacy in discharging its roles, there is still scope for strengthening the Committee system. In the 16^th Lok Sabha, DRSCs examined 41 Bills, 331 Demands for Grants, 197 issues, and published 503 Action Taken Reports.

However, the rules do not require that all Bills be examined by a Committee. This leads to some Bills being passed without the advantage of a Committee scrutinising its technical details. Recently, there has been a declining trend in the percentage of Bills being referred to a Committee. In the 15^th LS, 71% of the Bills introduced were referred to Committees for examination, as compared to 27% in the 16^th Lok Sabha.

With the DRSCs now constituted for the first year of the 17^th Lok Sabha, they will soon begin their meetings to select the subjects they are going to examine. Some Committees already have Bills to examine that were referred to them during the 16^th Lok Sabha. Some of these Bills are: (i) the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019, (ii) the Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill, 2018, and (iii) the Registration of Marriage of Non- Resident Indian Bill, 2019. So far in the 17^th Lok Sabha no Bill has been referred to a Committee yet.

Legislative Commitments in President's Speech

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