New Delhi: Aiming to take second generation reforms forward, the government is planning to table four financial sector bills, including the ones on pension reform and SBI legislations, in the winter session of Parliament.
The government intends to table four bills--PFRDA
Bill, SBI Amendment Bill, State Bank of Saurashtra Repeal Bill
and State Bank of India Subsidiary Bill--related to the
financial sector during the winter session, which begins
November 19, official sources said.
The PFDRA Bill to give statutory powers to the pension
regulator and open up the sector to foreign investments was
originally introduced in 2005 but could not be be cleared due
to persistent opposition from the Left parties.
The other bill to be tabled in the Winter session is the
State Bank of India (amendment) Bill that proposes to bring
government holding at par with the nationalised bank that is
currently 51 per cent.
As per the SBI Act, the promoter, that is the government,
holding cannot come below 55 per cent. Currently, the
government holds 59.73 per cent stake in SBI.
Besides, SBI (Subsidiary Banks Laws) Amendment Bill is
expected to be tabled in the Parliament. The Bill proposes to
empower government to fix the authorised or issued capital of
a subsidiary of the SBI, as also appoint top officials.
SBI ownership was transferred from RBI to government of
India in 2007 and due to change in ownership, those provisions
need to be modified to reflect the change in ownership.
The government also intends to introduce a Bill in
Parliament for repealing the State Bank of Saurashtra Act,
1950.
The Act has lost relevance as the bank has been merged
with the State Bank of India.
Bureau Report