Even though crucial time might have been lost in Parliament’s ongoing Winter Session due to Opposition-sponsored disruptions, the UPA government is working overtime to make maximum use of the remaining days by bringing in
some important legislation. Thus, a crucial meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will discuss a series of bills — Judges Accountability Bill, Food Security Bill, Citizens Charter and the Whistleblowers Bill — that the government is keen on introducing in Parliament before the session comes to an end on December 22.
According to highly placed sources, the government is simultaneously working on a separate strategy to bring in the vexed Lokpal bill also during the current session. In fact, it is not just the introduction of the Lokpal bill, but also its smooth passing in the ongoing session itself that the government is aiming for.
As part of this the PM will meet all UPA allies after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening. This then will be followed by an all-party meeting convened by the PM on Wednesday evening. Sources said the PM is keen to get a sense of all political parties before formulating the government’s views on the Lokpal bill. And the PM wants to do this, sources added, before he leaves for a three-day trip to Russia on December 15.
The sense of urgency and seriousness that the UPA government is attaching to the Lokpal bill can be judged from the fact that a special meeting of the Cabinet has been convened for December 19 to finalise the Lokpal bill which is likely to be introduced in the House on December 20 then.
“No one can doubt the intentions of the government on the Lokpal bill. In fact, the special Cabinet meeting next Monday has been convened after the all-party meeting because the government wants to incorporate suggestions of all parties in the bill. This will also ensure that the bill is passed smoothly in Parliament in the current session itself,” a top government functionary said.