2 of Modi’s biggest reforms have just hit a speed breaker. Know why

In an effort to get the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill passed, the Indian Government went ahead with its proposal to constitute a select committee of the Rajya Sabha, or Upper House of the Parliament, to examine it.

It also went ahead with a suggestion to form joint committee of both the Houses to examine the contentious Land Acquisition Bill.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government lacks numbers in Rajya Sabha, it is banking on these committees to mull on both the bills and get them passed.

The Lok Sabha, or Lower House of the Parliament, passed the GST Bill to put in place a single nationwide sales tax.

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hailed it as the biggest reform in the country since independence in 1947. He had told lawmakers that the Bill, if passed, could add up to 2 percentage points to the growth of Asia's third-largest economy.

Meanwhile, a 30-member joint committee of both the Houses will look into the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
The committee will be headed by SS Ahluwalia, who is a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Darjeeling.

It will have 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. BJP will nominate 10 members from the Lower House and two from the Upper House to the joint committee.

The land reform bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, however, the ruling Government failed to get it passed in the Rajya Sabha. Modi, last year, had issued an ordinance on land acquisition.

This will be re-promulgated for the second time soon after the budget session ends on May 13, a Union minister told the Economic Times, accepting that Government plans to get these two crucial bills passed in the Budget Session did not see the light of day.

(Image: Reuters)