Just when the government seemed to be in the mood to cut short the ongoing budget session of parliament, Prime minister Narendra Modi is understood to have stepped in to avert any such move.
At last week's meeting of the Union cabinet, the first after his return from Brazil, Modi expressed the view that cutting short the session would give an impression that the government had not done proper planning on the legislative business, according to sources.
They said though the government had prioritised around 20 legislations to be taken up during the session, some ministries had sought more time to examine the bills before they were tabled in the parliament. But, as Modi's message sunk in, several ministries began working over time to get some bills ready for the session which ends on August 14, the sources said.
Besides, some crucial bills — raising the FDI cap in insurance sector to 49% and Security Exchange Board of India — were cleared by the cabinet. These bills are to be taken up for passage during the session.
The law ministry is also working on the bill on judicial appointment commission bill replacing the collegium system. The issue has gained momentum after Markandey Katju's revelations. The ministry, which has sought the views of political parties on the bill, started the process of consultations.
The government has made it clear now that the session, which was scheduled to have 29 sittings, would not be cut short. There was a buzz some time ago in parliament that the government was toying with the idea of ending the session a week or ten days ahead of schedule, as it felt there would be no legislative business after the railway and general budgets and passage of the finance bill.
Besides these, the business completed during the session includes bills to amend the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and transfer land from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh.
When the tenure of the 15th Lok Sabha ended, there 62 pending bills in Rajya Sabha while around 60 had lapsed in the Lower House.
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