Coal news and updates

The Congress may back the Centre's proposal on goods and services tax (GST), rescuing pending economic reforms that have been hostage to politics. 

 

Sources said GST is the most achievable of the clutch of pending legislations that have passed on from the UPA to BJP government. A key Congress leader said if the GST proposal does not have critical changes from the draft that was finalized by the UPA, it was likely to go through. 

 

If Congress backs the BJP, the required constitutional amendment would sail through Parliament without much consideration for the views of other political parties. 

 

The ordinance on coal that provides for auction of mines through public bidding may also receive Congress backing. Party sources said it was a measure necessitated by a Supreme Court order that cancelled mine allocations between 1993-2010 and should be backed in normal circumstances. Also, opposing an initiative that calls for auction of mines can be politically inconvenient given the mood for reforms in allocation of natural resources.

 

The backing for two of the big measures would mean relief for the Centre that does not have the numbers in Rajya Sabha to push through the legislations. 

 

Another key measure, the insurance reform bill, is with a select committee of the Rajya Sabha which has just finished the hearing with stakeholders. The Congress attitude at the time of drafting of the report is being watched closely. 

 

For a party that faced severe resistance to economic reforms from BJP which led the opposition camp during the UPA tenure, there is serious discussion within the party on whether it should go for tit-for-tat politics or show itself as a responsible opposition by backing acceptable government initiatives in "national interest". There is a serious divide in the party on the issue. 

 

AICC spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi said, "We will give constructive support in principle, but with the very specific caveat that both god and the devil lie in the details. These are bills which we have moved, and we are not hypocritical." 

 

The Centre has repeatedly said it can convene a joint session of Parliament to surmount the numerical disadvantage in Rajya Sabha. However, its first preference is to bring the Congress on board. 

 

Congress sources said the party does not want to appear "opportunistic" by stalling the bills piloted by UPA earlier and now by the NDA, just for the sake of opposition. The Manmohan Singh government had authored the insurance reform bill, raising FDI limit in the insurance sector from 26% to 49%, and GST.

 

 

 

Source: ToI