GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Important Aspects of Governance, Transparency and Accountability
Source: TH
Context: The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2023 is set to be taken up during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
Objective of the Bill:
- To redefine the regulatory landscape of the country with decriminalisation of minor offences under 42 Acts.
- To reduce compliance burden and promote ease of living and doing business in the country.
More about the Bill:
- The Bill was tabled in Parliament by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry (December 2022) and then referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
- As per reports, most recommendations of the JPC have been approved by the Union Cabinet, clearing the way for its passing.
Salient provisions of the Bill:
- Decriminalising: 180 offences across 42 laws governing environment, agriculture, media, industry and trade, etc.
- Completely remove/ replace imprisonment clauses: With monetary fines.
- Compounding of offences in some provisions.
- Removes all offences and penalties under the Indian Post Office Act, 1898.
- Changes in grievance redressal mechanisms: Appointment of one or more Adjudicating Officers for determining penalties.
- A periodic revision of fines and penalties: An increase of 10% of the minimum amount every 3 years for various offences in the specified Acts.
Some key laws covered in the Bill:
- The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- The Indian Forest Act, 1927
- The Agricultural Produce (Grading & Marking) Act, 1937
- The Information Technology Act, 2000
- The Copyright Act, 1957
- The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
- The Cinematograph Act, 1952
- The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, etc
Need for the Bill:
- A large number of compliances govern doing business in India:
- Currently, there are 1,536 laws which translate into around 70,000 compliances that govern doing business in India.
- Among these, 26,134 have imprisonment clauses as a penalty for non-compliance.
- Lengthy processing times for the needed approvals: Escalating costs and dampening the entrepreneurial spirit.
- Implications:
- Excessive compliances have proved burdensome for business enterprises, especially MSMEs.
- Creating barriers to the smooth flow of ideas and the creation of jobs, wealth and GDP.
Significance of the Bill:
- Reducing the compliance burden gives impetus to the business ecosystem and improves the well-being of the public.
- Smoother processes will attract more investment.
- It will reduce judicial burden, as settlement by compounding method, adjudication and administrative mechanism will save time, energy and resources.
- In short, the Bill seeks to bolster ‘trust-based governance’ – promoting ease of doing business and ease of living.
Concerns:
- Quasi-decriminalisation: The monetary fines or penalties are not a good enough attempt at decriminalisation.
- Remove the deterrence effect of the environmental legislation: The blanket removal of imprisonment provision might remove deterrence, especially for large corporations profiteering from the offence.
- Adjudicating Officers may lack the technical competence: Necessary to decide all penalties under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.
- Many offences (like theft or misappropriation of postal articles) proposed to be removed have nothing to do with its objective of decriminalisation to promote ease of doing business.
Conclusion:
- The cornerstone of democratic governance lies in the government trusting its own people and institutions and a web of outdated rules and regulations causes trust deficit.
- After resolving the above issues, the Jan Vishwas Bill will help to clear the burdensome collection of old and outdated legislation.
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