Monsoon Session, 2016: Day 8

The Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill was introduced and passed in Lok Sabha today. The Bill replaces Section 44 of the Act, which required disclosures of assets by public servants. Further, it detailed the manner and timelines of such disclosures (such as disclosures to include that of spouse and dependent children, to be made by July 31 each year, ministry to publish on website by Aug 31 etc.). This provision is applicable to all public servants as defined under the Act, including Ministers, MPs and certain NGOs (a June notification specified that NGOs receiving government funds over Rs 1 crore or FCRA funds over Rs 10 lakh would be covered).

While the Bill also requires public servants to declare their assets, it does not specify the details of how and when this must be done. These details will be prescribed by the central government- as per the bill.

There was no discussion on the Bill in the Lower House.

The table below highlights time spent by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on discussing Bills:

Time spent on discussing Bills	Lok Sabha		Rajya Sabha
	No. of Bills	% of Total Time	No. of Bills	% of Total Time
Up to 30 mins	5	7%	18	30%
30 mins to 2 hours	23	31%	22	37%
Above 2 hours	47	63%	20	33%
Total	75	100%	60	100%

The table does not include the time spent on discussing the Benami Bill that was passed by the Lower House today.

Lok Sabha also passed the Benami Transactions Amendment Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 1988 to:

(i) amend the definition of benami transactions,

(ii) establish adjudicating authorities and an Appellate Tribunal to deal with benami transactions, and

(iii) specify the penalty for entering into benami transactions.

The government had proposed amendments to the Bill. A comparison of the Benami Transactions Bill 2015, recommendations of the Standing Committee, and amendments circulated can be found here.

Rajya Sabha took up discussion on price rise. Members raised concerns regarding the prices of commodities such as pulses, sugar and vegetables. The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Mr. Ramvilas Paswan replied at the end of the debate. In his reply, he stated that inadequate supply of commodities owing to issues such as hoarding are leading to increase in prices. He also added that there is a need to examine the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act.

Rajya Sabha also took up discussion on the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill. The Bill establishes the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of India and a State Compensatory Afforestation fund under the Public Account of each state. Detailed analysis with features and related issues of the bill can be found here.