New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: The Rajya Sabha had an eventful and productive day on Tuesday after two key bills - The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 - were passed. Further, discussions were also held on The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 before the House was adjourned till Wednesday.
The two bills, which have been already passed in the Lok Sabha, got a nod of the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. Both bill have recieved heavy criticisim from opposition parties, but the government has defended them. Here's everything you need to know about the discussions in Rajya Sabha about the two key bills:
The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022:
The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 seeks to unify three civic bodies in the national capital. The bill, passed in Lok Sabha last week, will ensure synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources, according to the Centre.
Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was forced to bring this due to the "step-motherly treatment" of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to the civic bodies in Delhi. Defending the Centre, Shah said Delhi is a not a full state, adding that the Parliament has competence to frame laws for the city-state.
"This bill is in no way an attack on the federal structure," Shah said, as reported by news agency PTI. "It is being alleged that the bill has been brought due to fear of losing elections. But if elections are held after six months, will you lose."
The Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021:
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday also passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with a voice vote after negating all amendments moved by the Opposition.
This bill, cleared by Lok Sabha on March 30, aims to revamp the functioning of the institutes of chartered accountants (CA), cost accountants and company secretaries (CS). During a debate, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this bill will usher in transparency.
Sitharaman asserted that the new legislation would facilitate India in creating homegrown world class institutions soon, comparable with the 'Big Four' in the audit and accountancy areas, and meet the global demands.
"This (bill) is with the intention of making the three institutions a lot more transparent in their disciplinary matters, and raise the quality of the disciplinary processes. Above all, I think this would also facilitate India to be able to support institutions and firms which can be encouraged by the council to create something (completely of India origin) similar to the Big Four, which we periodically talk about," she said, as reported by PTI.
"At this time, the sanctity of the audited financial statement which is where the role of CAs come into play has got to be maintained, has got to be given its due position and we need to have audit and certification quality. We also need to have a favourable investment climate being brought in," she said.