RS passes Coal, Mines Bills

New Delhi, March 20

The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the contentious The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, despite opposition from Congress and Left parties.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 117 members voting in favour and 69 against it, after Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar moved it for passage.

The House earlier saw a lot of discussion on a motion moved by P Rajeeve of CPI(M), which sought that the measure be re-sent to the Select Committee as it had not taken the views of all stakeholders including state governments.

This amendment was voted out after a division, with parties like TMC, NCP, SP, BSP, BJD, AIADMK, DMK and JMM, besides allies Shiv Sena and SAD supporting the government.

The rejection of the motion by 112 votes against and 68 in favour, paved the way for the House to take up the Bill for voting.

During the short debate on Rajeeve’s motion, members voiced concern over the plight of tribals living in the mining areas and issues relating to their rehabilitation.

Some members also pointed out that the Bill could fail the legal test and be struck down by courts as it seeks to impinge on the rights of states, which were not consulted by the Select Committee looking into the Bill.

The Bill further to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, as passed by Lok Sabha and as reported by the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha, would now be sent back to Lok Sabha before it becomes a law.

Coal Bill passed

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, meanwhile, was passed with 107 members voting in favour and 62 against in the Upper 245-member House where the ruling BJP-led coalition is in a minority, indicating that some non-NDA parties back the government.

The crucial bill that provides legal framework for auction of coal blocks was passed by Parliament on Friday, replacing an ordinance that was to expire on April 5.

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, was approved by Rajya Sabha after several amendments moved by the Congress and Left were defeated, on the last day of the first half of Budget session.

The Lok Sabha already passed the bill on March 4. The legislation replaces an Ordinance issued by the government on October 21 last year and then re-promulgated on December 26 after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 coal blocks terming the allocations as fatally flawed. The ordinance was set to expire on April 5.

Amendments were moved by Congress members Digvijay Singh and P Bhattacharya, CPI (M)'s P Rajeev, KN Balagopal, TN Seema and Tapan Kumar Sen and CPI's D Raja but were defeated. Some members, including DMK Tiruchi Siva, withdrew their amendments. —  PTI