Seven years after it was first introduced by the UPA, a bill seeking to raise FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26% to 49% was finally approved by Parliament with the consideration of the Upper House. The NDA had issued an ordinance last year to implement the bill lying in cold storage after it was referred to an RS select committee in the face of stiff opposition then by ironically the BJP-led opposition.
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 will replace the ordinance promulgated by the government last year. The passage of the bill in RS, with Congress help, comes as a major relief to the Modi government which was under fire for the high-handedness in taking the ordinance route for major policy decisions. The bill was passed through a voice vote after a three-hour debate that saw Left members repeatedly clashing with treasury benches. The Left parties, consistently opposed to the bill since its introduction in 2008, insisted that amendments they had moved be put to electronic voting. They didn't want the bill to go through without registering a protest but the amendments were overwhelmingly negated in the voting.
Despite their opposition to the bill, regional heavyweights --SP , BSP and JD(U) -staged a walkout making it more convenient for the government.Apart from the Congress, the Modi government received the backing of AIADMK, the NCP , BJD, besides allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal.
The DMK and TMC, whose leader Derek O'Brien accused the Congress of acting hand-in glove with the BJP , also walked out before the voting. Participating in the heated debate, O'Brien tore into the government as he recalled how the BJP was initially opposed to the idea behind the bill with its senior leader Yashwant Sinha, father of MoS finance Jayant Sinha, who moved the bill in the Upper House then saying that one of the reasons why India had averted the 2008 financial crisis was the fact that it had not raised the FDI cap. “Papa kehte hain bada naam karega, beta hamara aisa kaam karega,'' said the TMC leader as he ended his scathing attack.
The House had to be adjourned twice earlier as SP , Left and BSP members insisted that the bill could not be introduced as a similar bill introduced in 2008 was still pending with the House panel. Deputy chairman P J Kurien said the bill passed by the Lok Sabha could be tabled in RS as there was no constitutional provision to prevent this even as he acknowledged that the situation was unprecedented. After a second adjournment lasting for 30 minutes, Sinha finally moved the bill as passed by the Lok Sabha. But this was only after the previous bill was withdrawn with the consent of the House. TMC MPs also tried to stall the bill saying the government had bypassed the Business Advisory Committee in introducing it directly to RS. As Kurien saw merit in the point raised, parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu assured the House that ignoring BAC was not going to become a practice as he requested MPs to allow the bill to be introduced.
While the debate saw heated exchanges, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav provided some comic relief when he spoke about the Indian obsession for white skin as he expressed reservations over the move to increase FDI cap in insurance.
He had the House in splits when he said that this obsession even overrode the fact that most of the Indian gods were wheatish or black and pointed to BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad saying even he was “sawla“. He also brought the House down as he went on to say that women from southern part of the country were more beautiful and referred to their bodies.
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 will replace the ordinance promulgated by the government last year. The passage of the bill in RS, with Congress help, comes as a major relief to the Modi government which was under fire for the high-handedness in taking the ordinance route for major policy decisions. The bill was passed through a voice vote after a three-hour debate that saw Left members repeatedly clashing with treasury benches. The Left parties, consistently opposed to the bill since its introduction in 2008, insisted that amendments they had moved be put to electronic voting. They didn't want the bill to go through without registering a protest but the amendments were overwhelmingly negated in the voting.
Despite their opposition to the bill, regional heavyweights --SP , BSP and JD(U) -staged a walkout making it more convenient for the government.Apart from the Congress, the Modi government received the backing of AIADMK, the NCP , BJD, besides allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal.
The DMK and TMC, whose leader Derek O'Brien accused the Congress of acting hand-in glove with the BJP , also walked out before the voting. Participating in the heated debate, O'Brien tore into the government as he recalled how the BJP was initially opposed to the idea behind the bill with its senior leader Yashwant Sinha, father of MoS finance Jayant Sinha, who moved the bill in the Upper House then saying that one of the reasons why India had averted the 2008 financial crisis was the fact that it had not raised the FDI cap. “Papa kehte hain bada naam karega, beta hamara aisa kaam karega,'' said the TMC leader as he ended his scathing attack.
The House had to be adjourned twice earlier as SP , Left and BSP members insisted that the bill could not be introduced as a similar bill introduced in 2008 was still pending with the House panel. Deputy chairman P J Kurien said the bill passed by the Lok Sabha could be tabled in RS as there was no constitutional provision to prevent this even as he acknowledged that the situation was unprecedented. After a second adjournment lasting for 30 minutes, Sinha finally moved the bill as passed by the Lok Sabha. But this was only after the previous bill was withdrawn with the consent of the House. TMC MPs also tried to stall the bill saying the government had bypassed the Business Advisory Committee in introducing it directly to RS. As Kurien saw merit in the point raised, parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu assured the House that ignoring BAC was not going to become a practice as he requested MPs to allow the bill to be introduced.
While the debate saw heated exchanges, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav provided some comic relief when he spoke about the Indian obsession for white skin as he expressed reservations over the move to increase FDI cap in insurance.
He had the House in splits when he said that this obsession even overrode the fact that most of the Indian gods were wheatish or black and pointed to BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad saying even he was “sawla“. He also brought the House down as he went on to say that women from southern part of the country were more beautiful and referred to their bodies.
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