Jan Vishwas, offshore minerals bills passed
New Delhi: Government pushed through its busy legislative agenda for the monsoon session by introducing and clearing few more bills including the Jan Vishwas and Offshore Areas Mineral Amendment Bills on Thursday. The government initiated the legislative agenda amidst a din in both houses of Parliament which faced several adjournments during the day. Most of the bills were introduced or passed by voice vote without proper debate on its provisions.
The Jan Vishwas Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, which was moved by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, proposes to decriminalize minor offences by amending 183 provisions across 42 Acts administered by 19 ministries pertaining to various sectors including agriculture, food, postal service, railways and information technology among others. The 108-page Jan Bill, 2022 covers the Boilers Act, The Aadhar Act, 2016, the Legal Metrology Act, 2009, The Collection of Statistics Act, The Government Securities Act, 2006, and The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, among others. The bill was cleared by the lower house by voice vote.
The Jan Vishwas Bill was introduced by Goyal in the upper house in December and then referred to a joint committee of Parliament. The 2023 bill has incorporated a few suggestions from the committee. The panel had also desired the states and Union territories to have a legislation like Jan Vishwas to promote ease of doing business and living.
The bill also provides for reducing the compliance burden on individuals and businesses. The objective is to promote ease of doing business and reduce the backlog of court cases. Several provisions criminalising offences are antiquated and not relevant in present circumstances.
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