GROWTH STIMULOUS
   Date :21-Dec-2019

Time and Tide_1 &nbs
IN THE backdrop of Government’s claim that ever since 2014 India has climbed up several notches in the world in ease of doing business. According to a World Bank study on global ease of doing business, from 142nd position among 192 countries of the world in 2014 India now ranks 63rd and with more steps towards reforms in the pipeline the country is bound to break into top 50 nations. Top industry leaders who met Finance Minister Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman for a pre-budget interaction recently, while acknowledging that there has been progress in reforms process some more steps are urgently needed to spur investment. These measures relate to taxation matters, labour laws, land acquisition, enhancing the dispute resolution mechanism etc. There is no doubt that the industry captains are keen to unleash the latent energy the Indian entrepreneurship has displayed ever since economic reforms have been undertaken in the country. So with new generation reforms, more focussed on short term and medium term results, there is tremendous scope for the country to grow.
 
CHAIR’S NEUTRALITY
 
WHILE hearing the case relating to the disqualification of 17 MLAs from Karnataka earlier this year, the Supreme Court had observed that there is a”growing trend of Speakers of legislative bodies acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral.” It is this observation that Speaker of the Lok Sabha Mr. Om Birla feels should be a matter of concern for Speakers. In the light of this Mr. Birla’s appeal to Speakers of legislatures to be impartial and neutral holds much significance for the functioning of legislative bodies. Once the a legislator is elected as the Speaker or Chairman he is expected to rise above his political affiliation and discharge his duty as a neutral umpire delivering justice wherever it is due. But unfortunately, however, there is a feeling among sections of legislative Houses that presiding officers are not as neutral as they normally should be with all sections of the Houses, especially while dealing with the issue of defections. It is this feeling that Mr. Birla must have in mind.