New Delhi, Feb 22: The 15th Lok Sabha goes into history as the one passing the lowest number of bills, with 68 lapsing. These include a bill to reserve 30 perceent of seats in parliament and the legislatures for women and another for reserving 50 percent of seats in panchayats for women.
This Lok Sabha passed 177 bills of the 326 it had listed for consideration and passing in its five year tenure, as per data compiled by thinktank PRS legislative Research.
This is the least number of bills passed by a full five-year-term Lok Sabha. In comparison, the 13th Lok Sabha passed 297 bills, and the 14th Lok Sabha passed 248 bills.
A total of 128 Bills are currently pending in Parliament.
Of these, 60 are pending in Rajya Sabha and 68 in the Lok Sabha. The bills in Lok Sabha will now lapse, the highest ever.
Of the lapsing bills, 12 are of the finance ministry, 10 of the human resource development ministry, eight of the department of personnel, public grievances and pensions, which is under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seven of the law ministry and five of home ministry.
Some of the important bills to lapse are:
The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill to reserve 50 percent of seats in parliament and the legislatures for women.
The Constitution (110th Amendment) Bill for reserving half the seats in panchayats for women.
The Constitution (112th Amendment) Bill reserving one-third of elected seats in municipalities for women.
The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010: It was meant to to lay down enforceable standards of conduct for judges. It also requires judges to declare details of their and their family members’ assets and liabilities.
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011: This bill, which promised more transparency, was brought after several cases of illegal mining came to light. The bill requires every person to obtain a license or lease for carrying on mining or related activities.
The Electronic Delivery of Services Bill, 2011: This landmark bill required public authorities to deliver all public services electronically within a maximum period of eight years.
The Micro Finance Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012: The Bill sought to provide a statutory framework to regulate and develop the micro finance industry and empower the Reserve Bank to regulate them. A parliament panel last week advised the government to reject this bill and bring a new bill.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (Amendment) Bill, 2012: The Small Industries Development Bank of India Act, 1989 established the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to promote, finance and develop ‘industrial concerns in the small-scale sector’
The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill, 2013: It proposed to establish a Civil Aviation Authority of India (CAA) to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as the civil aviation safety regulator, under overall oversight of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013: This bill which was bought after the alleged coal scam, sought to establish an independent regulatory authority for the coal sector.
The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill, 2011: One of the anti-graft bills that was on priority list but could not get passed, this bill criminalised acceptance or solicitation of bribes by FPO and OPIO for acts or omissions in their official capacity.
The Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010: This bill consolidates and amend the law relating to direct taxes such as income-tax and wealth-tax.
The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010: One of the most important education bills, it was meant to regulate the entry and operation of foreign educational institutions in the country.
The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010: Seeking to maintain academic quality, this bill sought to make it mandatory for every higher educational institution to be accredited by an independent accreditation agency.
The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010: It sought to set up educational tribunals at the national and state level to adjudicate disputes involving teachers and other employees of higher educational institutions and other stakeholders such as students, universities and statutory regulatory authorities.
*Figures and data on bills provided by PRS Legislative Research