Govt seeks support to pass food bill

The Centre will make fresh attempts to get Parliament nod for the Food Security Ordinance and the Land Acquisition Bill when the monsoon session commences on August 5.

President Pranab Mukherjee has summoned the Rajya Sabha to meet on August 5. Subject to exigencies of business, the session will conclude on August 30, the Rajya Sabha secretariat announced on Monday.

A similar announcement was also made by the Lok Sabha secretariat. Speaker Meira Kumar is expected to convene an all-party meeting on August 3 to ensure smooth functioning of the monsoon session.

The government is expected to list the Food Security Ordinance and the Land Acquisition Bill on the first day of the session itself for consideration and passing by the Lok Sabha.

With the economy facing problems due to sliding rupee and investment pullouts, the government will be keen to usher in reforms in the pension and insurance sectors. Congress floor managers are learnt to be in talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for passage of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill which seeks to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent. The BJP and the Left parties have strongly opposed any hike in the FDI cap for the insurance sector.

With the exit of the Janata Dal-United from the National Democratic Alliance, the Congress hopes to gain support on key bills from the 20 members of the Nitish Kumar-led party.
There are also plans to bring a number of economic legislations, including the Companies Bill and the Direct Taxes Code Bill, to give a boost to the sluggish economy.

The government is also hopeful of getting the BJP’s support for the Land Acquisition, Relief and Rehabilitation Bill as some suggestions made by the Leader of the Opposition on leasing land to developers instead of acquiring it have been accommodated.