A Private Member Bill is often used by the opposition legislators as a tool to force a discussion and possible legislation on an issue that may have been omitted, avoided, or neglected by the government. Devendra Fadnavis, as always a champion for common people’s causes, used private member bills to attract the attention of the government on important and social issues when he was an opposition MLA.
What is a Private Member Bill?
A legislative body consists of the ministers, other ruling party legislators, and opposition legislators, where bills (proposals) are raised and debated between the government and opposition legislators, either to bring a new law or modify an existing law. Two kinds of bills are introduced in parliament for the legislative procedure: public and private bills. While a public bill is called a government bill proposed by a minister, a private bill or a private member bill, as opposed to a public bill, is one raised by a legislator who is not a minister, i.e. not a part of the government, which is why it is also called a non-government bill.
In the winter session of 2011, Devendra Fadnavis introduced three non-government bills in the Legislative Assembly, namely the Maharashtra State Service Guarantee Bill, 2011, Maharashtra Lokayukta and Sub-Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2011, and the Maharashtra Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill (Surrogacy), 2011. These bills were discussed in the next session in 2012.
Maharashtra State Service Guarantee Bill, 2011
Service guarantee in this context refers to delivering public services to the common people. This is an important part of governance an elected government is expected to ensure. However, Maharashtra, and the rest of India for that matter, increasingly saw failures in delivering the benefits of developmental schemes and public services to the common people. The gap between the promises and assurances by the government and the ground realities faced by the masses remained wide. A major reason for this is attributed to the corruption, inefficiency, and apathy in the government offices responsible for the distribution and delivery of the public services.
Having worked closely at the grassroots level, Devendra Fadnavis was well aware of the brazen attitude of a class of government employees and the negative experiences of the villagers who have to visit government offices for different reasons. As an opposition MLA in 2011, Devendra Fadnavis introduced a non-government bill, namely the Maharashtra State Service Guarantee Bill in the legislative assembly. The objective of the bill was to inform the common people of their rights and access to the various public services and other government schemes and secondly to make provisions for stringent punishment for the officers who were corrupt, inefficient, or apathetic in their attitude. The bill was discussed in the legislature, but as usual, the then government in power, wrapped up the issue by giving strong remarks. However, Devendraji did not give up pursuing to establish people’s rights to public services. 3 years later, when he became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis got the Service Guarantee Bill approved in the maiden cabinet meeting, held on 1st November 2014, which was converted into a law in 2015.
Maharashtra Public Service Rights Act 2015
The Maharashtra Public Service Rights Act, 2015 ensures the right to public services along with a citizen’s charter for proper and time-bound services. This has a provision for legal recourse, which empowers the citizens to initiate action against erring government officials. Along the lines of provisions of the Right to Information, under the Right to Services tribunals and upper authorities can be established to pursue cases. Aaple Sarkar, the portal of public services under the State Service Guarantee Act, was launched. Through this portal and app, citizens have started getting services without going to any government office.
Devendra Fadnavis brought this issue before the public through a non-governmental bill. It got everyone’s attention and finally got it into law after coming to power. Thus, Devendraji is the only political leader who deliberately introduced a non-governmental bill on a subject and converted it into a law after coming to power.
Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2011
Surrogacy, although a generous act of a woman to use her womb to help an infertile couple have their child, often leads to the commercialization and exploitation of women, predominantly from impoverished households or marginalized communities. Devendra Fadnavis introduced a non-government bill on surrogacy regulation in the winter session of the Maharashtra state assembly, which was discussed in the monsoon session next year on 13th July 2012. The matter was discussed fervently in both houses, highlighting the rackets involving the agents and clinics besides the exploitation of needy women.
Devendra Fadnavis was the first to raise this important issue even when the center didn’t have any law on this matter. The Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra had to set up a committee to study the subject. The then Minister of State, Fauzia Khan, constituted an expert committee to scrutinize the aspects of assisted reproductive technology used in surrogacy. The Public Health Department constituted an expert committee on February 5, 2013, following a government decision.
The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021
Finally, the Indian parliament passed acts relating to the regulation of surrogacy and the reproductive medicine industry in India on December 20, 2021.
In 2022, after the formation of the new government in Maharashtra, the health department under the Dy. CM Devendra Fadnavis set up a board to enforce the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, within the state,
Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act
This act regulates and supervises assisted reproductive technology (ART) clinics and banks to prevent misuse. It also protects the interests of infertile couples and surrogate mothers.
Surrogacy (Regulation) Act
This act prohibits commercial surrogacy while allowing altruistic surrogacy. It also establishes a National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board and State Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Boards.
Maharashtra Lokayukta and Sub-Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2011
Devendra Fadnavis introduced a non-government bill in the Legislative Assembly in the winter session of 2011, which was discussed in the monsoon session of 2012, to amend the People’s Commissioner and Deputy People’s Commissioner Act, 1971 as necessary. Through this bill, Devendra Fadnavis demanded to increase the powers of Lokayuktas. He demanded that the Lokayuktas should have an independent police force and that their cases should be tried by special courts. To study all these matters, the then Chief Minister of the state, Prithviraj Chavan, constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then Additional Chief Secretary, Swadhin Kshatriya, on July 31, 2012.
Current status of the Lokayukta bill in Maharashtra
Maharashtra became the first state to introduce a Lokayukta Act in line with the center’s Lokpal Act, which includes the state’s Chief Minister and the cabinet in the jurisdiction of the anti-corruption authority. The Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis describing this legislation as a landmark move, mentioned that the Locayukt Maharashtra, the first such act in a state of India to be converted into a law, will significantly broaden the authority of Lokayukta.
All three bills, introduced by Devendra Fadnavis when he was not in power but implemented by him once he came to power show his conviction in the effectiveness of these acts, attention to all aspects of citizens’ needs, and earnest efforts to solve them through proper legislation.