NAC approves pre-legislative consultation for UPA govt

Sonia Gandhi headed National Advisory Council (NAC) on Friday approved a system of mandatory consultation with people of new laws and rules.

Sonia Gandhi headed National Advisory Council (NAC) on Friday approved a system of mandatory consultation with people of new laws and rules.

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The scope of the pre-legislative process in respect to the Central government would extend to new laws and amendment to law and new rules and amendment to rules, said a NAC statement.

The new format mandates an executive order to be issued by the government making it mandatory for all Central ministries to have consultation with people before finalizing a draft bill or rules.

“The guidelines should provide for desirable modes of disclosure and consultations, while details of such processes may be left to be worked out by the Central Ministries/Departments concerned,” the statement said.

The pre-legislative process formulated by a working group headed by Aruna Roy seeks to make government policy making system transparent, inclusive and equitable. The draft of the process will be available on NAC’s website for consultations.

Roy also submitted note on five issues to the NAC. It included a need for the government to declare a universal old age pension scheme, broad-based consultation before Delhi University implements its four-year undergraduate programme and changes in Whistleblowers Bill to bring RTI activists under ambit of the proposed law.