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  An estimated 3-minute read

In Parliament: Day 2 & 4 of Budget Session see some some protests & some progress

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Day 2

Rajya Sabha saw repeated disruptions over the issue of President’s rule in Uttarakhand on Day 2. The Leader of the House stated that President’s rule was imposed as a result of breakdown of constitutional machinery. He said that Rajya Sabha would later take up discussion on the issue once the proclamation of emergency is placed in the House.

Lok Sabha took up discussion on the Demands for Grants of Railways, 2016-17.  Some key highlights are:

·         Total revenue for 2016-17 is estimated at Rs 1,89,271 crore which is a 10% increase from the revised estimates of 2015-16. Total revenue in 2015-16, undershot budget estimates by Rs 16,752 crore (9%).

·         Total revenue from traffic for 2016-17 is estimated at Rs 1,84,820 crore, which is a 10% increase from the revised estimates of 2015- 16. Revenue from freight and passenger is expected to grow by 5% and 12% respectively.

·         Total expenditure for 2016-17 is projected at Rs 1,71,060 crore which is a 13% increase from the revised estimates of 2015-16.

·         Operating Ratio for 2016-17 is projected to increase to 92%. In 2015-16, the Operating Ratio increased from a budgeted estimate of 88.5% to 90.5%.

Operating Ratio is the ratio of the working expenditure (expenses arising from day-to-day operations of Railways) to the revenue earned from traffic. Therefore, a higher ratio indicates a poorer ability to generate surplus that can be used for capital investments such as laying new lines, deploying more coaches, etc.

Our detailed note giving an overview of railway finances can be found here.

The Standing Committee examining the Consumer Protection Bill presented its report today.  Among other things, the Committee recommended that in order to claim product liability, the Bill should specify conditions for establishing deficiency in services in addition to conditions for establishing defect in products.   

Under the Bill, in order to claim product liability, a claimant must establish four kinds of defects in the product, the injury caused from it, and that it belonged to the manufacturer. The claimant must also establish that the manufacturer had knowledge of such a defect. It may be argued that the conditions to establish a product liability claim are unreasonable. The Committee, therefore, recommended that the provision relating to product liability in the Bill may be suitably redrafted.

Our legislative brief provides a detailed analysis on the Bill, and can be found here. The analytical note points out issues to consider, along with key features.

Day 4

Lok Sabha today took up discussion on the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for 2016-17. During the debate several members raised their concerns about the sector related to inadequate financing, need for greater efforts for placing  trained candidates, improving vocational training, among other things.

The Ministry has been allocated Rs 1,804 crore in 2016-17. This is a 74% increase in funds from revised estimates of 2015-16.  The Ministry was allocated Rs 1,543 crore in 2015-16, which was reduced to Rs 1,037 crore in the revised estimates of that year.  

In Rajya Sabha members called the attention of the Minister of Finance to the imposition of Central Excise Duty on the gold jewellery by the government.

The Upper House also took up discussion on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The Constitution empowers the President to specify the Scheduled Castes in various states and union territories.  Further, it permits this list of notified Scheduled Castes (SC) to be modified by Parliament.

Recently, some states proposed certain modifications to this list.  The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that the Bill has been introduced to give effect to the changes proposed by the states.

 

The Bill adds certain communities to the list of Scheduled Castes in Haryana, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

 

The Committees examining the  Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015 submitted its report.

 

The Standing Committee examining the  Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 also presented its report.

By Trina Roy
PRS Legislative Research
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