The controversial Insurance Bill is unlikely to come in the current session of Parliament, with the Union government’s efforts to break the deadlock being botched by Congress led opposition, who sticking to its decision wants the bill to be referred to select committee of the Rajya Sabha.
The first major economic reform initiative of the Narendra Modi government, which proposes to hike FDI in insurance to 49%, has been caught in a logjam over Congress-led opposition's insistence to refer the Bill to a Select Committee, in a move which is aimed at denying Prime Minister Narendra Modi the leverage to sell this financial sector reform when he visits the United States in September.
At a meeting with leaders of various parties, where Finance Minister Arun Jaitley offered to introduce the changes that the Congress and others wanted in the Bill without referring it to a select committee, Congress, along with eight parties, proposed to move a motion in the House for forming a select committee on the Bill. However, some reports suggest that government is mulling to send the bill to a select committee, but seek a report in a time-bound manner.