Numbers are clear, land Bill will be passed in next session: Jaitley

Sanjeev Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

While characterising the first year of the NDA government as that of “decisiveness in the face of obstructionism”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the government’s priorities in the next session of Parliament would be the passage of GST and land Bills.

Addressing a press conference to highlight the achievements of Narendra Modi government in its first year, Jaitley expressed confidence that the land Bill would be passed in the next Parliament session, saying “the numbers are very clear”. He accused the Congress, which had opposed the land Bill, of obstructing India’s journey to 10 per cent growth by positioning itself against government’s pro-growth and developmental initiatives and asked the principal opposition party to reconsider its position.

“No political party has a right to say I will not allow it to be passed. They have a right to vote against it. And when a political party says it will vote against it, the numbers will eventually decide whether it will be passed or not. I think the numbers are very clear,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said hinting at the support of regional parties. “We are in the process of creating history by bringing about the most important Indirect Tax Reform through the implementation of GST,” Jaitley said. He added that most of the states were on board and the Centre would make every effort to roll out the new tax regime from April 1, 2016. Acknowledging the restlessness that the growth in the economy ought to be faster, the Finance Minister characterised the first year of the NDA government as one marked by speed of decision-making, clarity and transparency.

Jaitley said the NDA government had given a corruption-free government, which had been a major hallmark. He said that the atmosphere of gloom which existed one year back was a thing of the past and now even while India was among the fastest growing economies at 7.5—8%, there was restlessness that the growth ought to be faster.

“The previous environment of gloom had been replaced by a climate of enthusiasm. The newfound zeal makes people restless with even a growth rate of 8%,” he said.

The Finance Minister said that decisiveness even in the face of obstructions had been the hallmark of the Modi government. The Finance Minister said decisions were taken almost daily or on a weekly basis to augment growth and development, than being bogged down by resistance.

Promising growth and development, Jaitley said the first year had been a directional year and gave a signal to the direction in which the government would move in the coming years on the path of growth and development.