Parliament At Work: Return Of Healthy Debate In Second Half Of Budget Session

The Budget session of parliament is turning out to be a productive one, with as many as 26 legislations introduced and passed as of March 31, according to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research. The key Bills passed include the Finance Bill, 2017, four related to the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, which decriminalises suicide and The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which makes its mandatory for offices to give 6-month paid leave to new mothers.

Both houses of parliament saw fewer adjournments than the last few sessions, and more constructive debate.

The government's decision to introduce the four GST-related bills as Money Bills and introduce 40 amendments to the Finance Bill, 2017 led to some heated debate though. The opposition led by the Congress raised questions over the decision to pass them as Money Bills, leaving Rajya Sabha with powers to recommend changes but not ratify them. Jaitley and his predecessor P Chidambaram engaged in some healthy banter on the government's decision to make the unique identification number or Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and availing welfare schemes.

The opposition in the Lok Sabha also raised questions over the government's decision to push through amendments in areas like political funding and giving the taxman more powers to take action without disclosing the name of the informant. Jaitley used an analogy from the world of news saying a journalist is never asked to reveal his/her source and likewise the move is to protect whistleblowers and not economic offenders.

The finance minister also spent a considerable amount of time replying to the seven-hour debate on the four GST Bills put up for discussion and passage in the Lok Sabha.