SRINAGAR — Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed five Bills, including those related to Ease of Doing Business, to amend the Goods and Services Tax Act, and the Municipal Act, 2000.
Seven Bills were moved in the Assembly by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. While two –“ related to an increase in the salaries of ministers and legislators –“ were withdrawn, five others were passed by the House.
The Assembly passed the Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000, and to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
It also passed a Bill to consolidate and amend the law to replace permission-based control with rule-based governance and to enable citizens and enterprises to plan, invest, and work with confidence, and to foster Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living in a manner that generates employment, attracts investment, and sustains long-term economic growth.
The Assembly also passed a Bill to amend certain enactments for decriminalising and rationalising offences for Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business and to repeal certain Acts.
The House also passed a Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Members’ Pension Act 1984.
However, it withdrew two Bills – one to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Ministers’ and Ministers of State Salaries Act, 1956, and the other Bill to amend the Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Act, 1960.
The House had discussions on the Bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000. BJP MLA R S Pathania said he was not able to understand what the government wanted to achieve by the amendments.
“They want to do delimitation of wards. But the government does not do it. It is the power of the chief electoral officer,” he said, adding that the Bill creates confusion.
“It talks about deputy commissioner, SEC (State Election Commission) or any other authority. The government wants to assume the power of delimitation,” he said, anddemanded that a House committee study the Bill.
He also questioned whether the government even wants to hold panchayat and municipal elections.
Responding to Pathania, the chief minister said the MLA is a good lawyer, and lawyers have a quality that they argue even if they do not necessarily believe in it.
“They just want to represent their client properly. He (MLA) tried to find an error for the sake of it. We wanted to remove confusion about five-member municipal bodies and seven-member bodies in the Act. There will be a minimum of seven members in each of the municipal bodies,” Abdullah said.
He said the job of marking territorial jurisdiction of wards is anyway done by the respective deputy commissioners. “In the past also, DCs did it. We have removed the CEO to remove confusion,” he asserted.
Responding to Pathania’s query about elections to local bodies, the chief minister said the government’s intention to hold panchayat elections is “just as serious as yours about granting statehood”.
“They (BJP) will ask when the elections will be held? I would say at an appropriate time. When is that? It will be when it will be,” Abdullah said.
He appealed to the House to pass the “minor amendments” aimed at removing confusion.
The Speaker then put the Bill to a vote, and it was passed by voice vote. — (PTI)