NEW DELHI, Dec 18 - An all-party meeting convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari today failed to bring a consensus on the passage of the GST Bill, but members of the Upper House decided to pass six other Bills in the remaining period of three days of the Winter Session.
After the hourlong deliberations, Ansari merely said the meeting was �good�.
�There has been a very meaningful discussion in the meeting. A number of parties have expressed concern over Parliament not functioning. All of them decided that the House should function. It has been decided to pass the pending Government Bills even by sitting for late hours,� Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters after the meeting.
Asked about the crucial GST Bill, Naqvi said that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made an appeal to the Opposition to pass the Constitution Bill as well in the conducive atmosphere that has emerged after the meeting.
�But, I don�t think the main Opposition party has an agreement on this. They have not cleared their position,� he said.
In the meeting, the members decided to pass the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, the Appropriation Bills, the Anti Hijacking Bill, the Atomic Energy Amendment Bill, the Commercial Courts Ordinance Bill and the Arbitration and Conciliation Amendment Bill during the next week, sources said.
Opposition Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, �Nothing new was discussed at this meeting apart from what was discussed at the Business Advisory Committee meeting.�
When asked whether Congress has agreed to passage of some Bills, he said that some of the Bills on which his party has committed support, like the SC/ST Bill, will be passed along with the Appropriation Bill. �There is no decision on GST,� Azad said. � PTI
