CCPA to meet today to decide Monsoon Session dates

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will on Wednesday chair the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) meet aimed at finalising the dates for Parliament's Monsoon Session, likely to commence from July 18.

The CCPA will meet in room number 155 of the South Block.

News agency IANS has quoted a source as saying that Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu will meet all ministers, which will be followed by a cabinet meeting, and the CCPA meeting, in the same room of the South Block building.

Among the bills pending in the Rajya Sabha is the Goods and Services Tax Bill, moved in the Upper House in August last year after it was passed by the Lok Sabha.

The government is hopeful of its passage during the upcoming session as the National Democratic Alliance tally has gone up by five to 74 members in the upper house after the recent biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha.

"Many regional parties are with the government on the issue. We hope it will be passed without any problem," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS.

In the Lok Sabha, important pending bills include the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015, and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015.

These bills are expected to be passed during the month-long Monsoon Session.

In May, after the Budget Session of Parliament got over, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government expressed "satisfaction" over the performance of both houses of Parliament and said its "persistent outreach" has resulted in better functioning of the legislature "despite heat on some issues".

Naqvi said the Lok Sabha worked 118 percent of its scheduled time, while the Rajya Sabha worked 87 percent of its time.

The lower house passed 10 bills, while the upper house passed 12 bills during the budget session.

The Lok Sabha passed important legislations, including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, which was described as one key reform step and a game-changer in terms of tracking black money.

This key bill later got the nod from the Rajya Sabha too.

In the Rajya Sabha too, despite differences and occasional disruptions over Uttarakhand and AgustaWestland chopper deal, a bill was passed on May 11 to upgrade the Rajendra Agricultural University in Bihar to a central university. In a record of sorts, the bill was also passed by the Lok Sabha on the same day.

(With IANS inputs)