The prospects for reformist legislation being passed in Parliament in the Budget session look bleak. Some officials believe that the UPA will do nothing to upset trade unions and Left parties till the West Bengal elections in 2011?lest they get a handle to prevent Mamata Banerjee?s ascent to the CM?s post. UPA?s lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha doesn?t augur well for reform Bills even after that milestone is passed.
A fascinating study by the Centre for Policy Research?s PRS Legislative Research team throws interesting light on legislative action and government follow-up over the last decade and a half.
MPs cleared nearly 500 central laws from 1995 to 2008?of which 190 had to be enforced through a notification in the Official Gazette. After filing umpteen RTI applications with departments in charge of those laws, it was found that over 15% of them have never been enforced or only partially enforced. Even among the 159 laws that have been enforced, only two-thirds were fully enforced within a year of receiving Presidential assent. 26 other laws took anywhere from one year to five years before coming into force. Worst of all, for four laws, three of which were pushed by the shipping & road transport ministry in recent years, the researchers hit a wall, as no information was available on their status.
IDFC Project Equity?s Vikram Pant recently remarked: ?In India, there is law. In China, there is order.? But as the study points out, sometimes India doesn?t even notify the laws it has, forget implementing them. The un-enforced/partially enforced laws include many incremental reforms and their stalled status will only muddle things. For instance, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) was never fully empowered, as crucial clauses were never notified. And now, the Oil ministry wants to create yet another downstream regulator for gas supplies, without admitting it goofed up on PNGRB.
Governments may want to claim responsibility for the Indian economy?s growth in recent years. But as any Indian entrepreneur will tell you, 9% GDP growth became a reality not because of what the government did, but despite what it did or didn?t.
vikas.dhoot@expressindia.com