Feature
Budget session: Bills passed on five of six ordinances
New Delhi: The NDA government succeeded in getting some of its crucial agenda, including bills to replace five of six ordinances, passed in parliament in the budget session’s first half but was forced to defer passage of land bill in the Rajya Sabha in the face of stiff opposition.
The session, which began February 23, saw opposition parties target the government on a range of issues including release of separatist Masrat Alam on orders of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The Bharatiya Janata Party is part of ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir.
As part of its commitment to curb black money, the government introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha aimed at unearthing black money and punishing those with ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had spoken about the bill in his budget speech and it was introduced on the last day of the session’s first half.
The government’s vulnerability in the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority, was evident during the session as two of the crucial bills to replace ordinances – the mines and minerals bill and the coal mines bill – could be passed only on the last day as the bills were sent to select committee which gave its report in almost a week.
Also passed was the long-pending insurance law amendment bill which hikes the foreign equity cap in domestic companies from 26 percent to 49 percent and is expected to give a push to the Narendra Modi government’s reform agenda.
The session, while also saw passage of rail budget and conclusion of discussion on the the general budget, came soon after the BJP’s stunning defeat in the Delhi assembly polls.
The government managers had to work hard to bring opposition parties on board on some of the pending legislations. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu reached out to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to seek her party’s cooperation for the government’s legislative agenda.
But the government efforts to get the land bill passed did not succeed as opposition parties, which were totally opposed to the land ordinance, continued their resistance in Rajya Sabha even after the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with nine official amendments. The ordinance will lapse April 5.
Members of 14 opposition parties went on a march from the parliament to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and convey their opposition to the bill.
The government also faced embarrassment in the Rajya Sabha as the motion of thanks to the president’s address was adopted with an amendment.
Other major bills passed to replace ordinances include citizenship amendment bill and motor vehicles amendment bill.
PRS Legislative Research, which tracks work of parliament, said the first half of the session saw high productivity.
“The productivity this session has been at a high 121 percent in Lok Sabha, being one of the highest in the last few sessions. Given the background of six ordinances at the beginning of the session, five of them have been passed by both the houses,” said Trina Roy of the think-tank.
She said the productivity was 108 percent in the Rajya Sabha.
Naidu, who interacted with the media after the conclusion of the session, said that the land bill will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha in the second half of session beginning April 20 and going on till May 8.
Sources said that the government is contemplating re-issuing the ordinance and may go for proroguing at least one of the houses for this purpose.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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