Bills and Acts in News: August 2016

Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Bill, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016 after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha. The bill provides for establishment of National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (NCAF) under the Public Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public Account of each state. The payments into the funds include compensatory afforestation, net present value of forest (NPV), and any project specific payments. The NCAF will get 10% of funds collected and the remaining 90% will go to respective State Fund. The collected funds will be utilised for afforestation, regeneration of forest ecosystem, wild life protection and forest related infrastructure development. The bill also has provisions for the establishment of National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authorities to manage the funds.

Net present value (NPV) of forest

It is the value of forest diverted for other purposes. It will be calculated and recovered from the user agency for diverting forests. NPV will be calculated for 50 years period.

Lokpal Act

Parliament has passed a bill amending the Lokpal Act. As per the newly amended Lokpal Act, central government employees and executives of NGOs need not disclose theinformation relating to assets and liabilities of their spouses and dependent children. The amendment has been passed as the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, required all public servants to file details of their assets and liabilities, besides those of their spouses and dependent children every year. However, the rights activists have condemned the amendment as it tends to protect those employees and ministers who dilute the law.

Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to set up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). The Bill seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to add six new IITs as institutions of national importance.

Key Features of Bill

• Six new IITs will be set up in Palakkad (Kerala), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Goa, Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir).
• Brings the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad (Jharkhand) within the ambit of the parent Act.
• All these institutions will be declared as institutions of national importance.

Union Cabinet approves Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The Union Cabinet has approved the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to improve road safety scenario in the country. The bill seeks to amend Motor Vehicles Act (MVA), 1988 and proposes hefty penalties against violations of road safety rules as a deterrent measure. The new bill also proposes to create National Register for Vehicle registration and National Register for Driving Licence through “Vahan”and “Sarathi”platforms as it will bring harmony of the registration and licensing process.The proposed amendments to MVA, 1988 mainly focuses on issues relating to improving road safety, citizens’ facilitation while dealing with the Transport Department. It also focuses on strengthening rural transport, public transport, last mile connectivity automation and computerization (e-Governace) and enabling online services.

Rajya Sabha passes The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014

The Parliament passed The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 after it was unanimously passed by the LokSabha by approving all the amendments proposed by RajyaSabha. The bill has been sent to the states (15 out of total 29 states) for their approval as per Article 368 of Constitution as the bill aims to bring changes to the features associated with fiscal federalism.

With this passage of bill, India took a giant step in structural indirect taxation reform and paved way for the concept of one nation, one tax. The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 will enter into the statute book as The Constitution (101st Amendment) Bill, 2016.The Union Government has set the ambitious target to roll out of the Goods and Services Tax, (GST) from 1st April 2017.

GST

GST is single indirect tax for the whole nation, which will make India one unified common market. It is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the consumer. GST is essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage i.e. credits of input taxes paid at each stage will be available in the subsequent stage of value addition. GST brings uniformity by subsuming central and state indirect taxes into single indirect tax. It also seeks to enhance fiscal federalism by removing indirect tax barriers across states and integrates the country into a common market andby doing this it boosts government revenue and reduces business costs.

Indirect taxes to be subsumed into GST

At the Central level (i) Central Excise Duty, (ii) Additional Excise Duty, (iii) Service Tax, (iv) Additional Customs Duty (also known as Countervailing Duty) (v) Special Additional Duty of Customs.

At the State level: (i) State Value Added Tax (VAT) or Sales Tax, (ii) Octroi and Entry tax, (iii) Purchase Tax, (iii) Luxury tax, and (iv) Taxes on lottery, betting and gambling (v) Entertainment Tax (other than the tax levied by the local bodies) (vi) Central Sales Tax (levied by the Centre and collected by the States).

Mental Health Care Bill

The Rajya Sabha has passed the Mental Health Care Bill to provide better healthcare for people suffering from mental illness and also to decriminalise suicide. The Bill was proposed to fulfil the obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which India is signatory.  The Bill provides every person with the right to access mental health care and treatment from services run or funded by the government. The bill has also made Suicide not be liable to punishment under section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). It provides for the establishment of Central and State Mental Health Authority. It also proposes to establish Mental Health Review Commission and Board (MHRCB) as a quasi-judicial body.

LokSabha passes Employee’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The LokSabha has unanimously passed the Employee’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to reduce litigation in cases of disputes arising over compensation to workers. The Bill seeks to amend the Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923. This law provides payment of compensation to employees and their dependents in the case of injury by industrial accidents, including occupational diseases.

Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws Amendment Bill, 2016

Parliament has passed Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws Amendment Bill, 2016. It was first passed in LokSabha and later in RajyaSabha. The Bill seeks to strengthen the debt recovery laws, improve financial health of the banks and also to ease of doing business.

The Bill seeks to amend four laws: (i) Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 (ii) Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDDBFI), 1993 (iii) Depositories Act, 1996 and (iv) Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill 2016

The LokSabha has passed the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill 2016 to address various issues of demerger of companies and related matters and to pave way for employers in the textile sector to avail of the income tax benefit. The Bill seeks to amend the Income Tax Act (IT), 1961 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The new bill looks forward to exempt land banks of erstwhile public sector undertakings (PSUs) from levy of capital gains tax in the event of transfer to the government.

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The RajyaSabha has passedMaternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The new bill protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’. The ‘maternity benefit’ includes full paid leave from work to take care for the child. This law is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons.

Central Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Parliament has passed the Central Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to help the north-eastern state achieve higher growth in animal husbandry sector. The Bill proposes to amend the Central Agricultural University Act, 1992 to include Nagaland under the jurisdiction of Imphal Central Agriculture University (CAU).The amendment will help Nagaland to reap the benefit of the Imphal Central Agriculture University which was established for the entire north eastern region.

Union Cabinet approves introduction of Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016 for banning commercial surrogacy in country. The Bill will ensure effective regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow ethical surrogacy to the needy infertile couples. It prohibits commercial surrogacy including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes. The bill also has provisions to establish National Surrogacy Board (NSB) at the central level and State Surrogacy Boards (SSB) in States/Union Territories. The law will apply to whole of India, except the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016

Govt panel seeks views on the draft National Medical Commission Bill, 2016 which will replace Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. The committee has proposed a new structure of medical education and practice. The committee has also permitted the ‘for-profit’ entities to establish medical colleges in India. Most importantly, the bill favours replacement of widely criticised Medical Council of India with the National Medical Commission. The draft bill has been put on the public domain for inviting comments and suggestions from the public.

Other important features:

• It has suggested a uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admissions to under-graduate medical colleges.
• It provides for a new Institutional Architecture for Regulation with a Medical Advisory Council (MAC) which will have representations from the States and Union Territories (UTs) for articulating the national agenda for medical education.
• It provides for the establishment of National Medical Commission (NMC), which will serve as the policy-making body for medical education.
• It also provides for four autonomous boards for Under Graduate Medical Education, Post Graduate Medical Education, Medical Assessment and Rating and Registration and Ethics.

Draft Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Recently, Supreme Court granted permission for a rape victim to abort her “abnormal” 24-week-old. The victim got relief under an exception in section 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. In order to address the deficiencies in the MTP Act, 1971, the health ministry has come up with the draft Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

Some of the features of the draft bill are:

• A health care provider can decide in good faith to allow abortion between 20 and 24 weeks if the pregnancy involves substantial risks to the mother or child, or the pregnant woman is a rape victim.
• Taking into account the shortage in doctors and midwives, the draft bill allows Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha practitioners to carry out abortions