Stalin demands Chapters II, III and V be deleted from the draft Indian Ports Bill; explains how it infringes on state rights.
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has strongly objected to certain provisions of the Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022 on the grounds that it is against State rights. (Creative Commons)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising objections to the draft of the Indian Ports Bill, 2022. In his letter, the Chief Minister has pointed out that certain provisions of the bill encroached upon state rights and stressed that the Indian port sector needed “less centralisation and less regulation, not more”.
On 18 August, the Press Information Bureau had stated that the draft bill was issued for stakeholder consultation. It also gave details of what the bill entailed.
According to the Union Government, it was “imperative to revamp The Indian Ports Act, 1908, as it was more than 110 -years-old”, and it needed to “reflect the present-day frameworks, incorporate India’s international obligations, address emerging environmental concerns, and aid the consultative development of the ports sector in the national interest”.
The draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022, was prepared to repeal and replace the existing 1908 Act.
The proposed bill would “homogenise and streamline the development of the maritime sector, along with, promoting ease of doing business by eliminating unnecessary delays, disagreements and defining responsibilities”, the Union government claimed.
It also aimed to “empower and establish State Maritime Boards for effective administration; control and management of non-major ports in India; provide for adjudicatory mechanisms for redressal of port-related disputes and to establish a national council for fostering structured growth and development of the port sector”, among other aspects.
Under the draft bill, the State Maritime Boards would be incorporated in the national framework.
Additionally, the government also believes that the “Maritime State Development Council would ensure cooperative federalism where the Centre and the states/Union territory governments would work together towards preparing a progressive road map for the country”.
Chief Minister MK Stalin, in his letter to the prime minister, has claimed that the growth trajectory of India’s port sector showed that the non-major ports managed by the maritime states have grown faster than the major ports under the Union government.
“This was because the maritime states facilitated the growth of non-major ports through private investments and business-friendly policies. Many such states, especially Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra, pioneered such facilitatory development of minor ports and have contributed to an increasing share of maritime cargo handling,” Stalin said, while emphasising that the draft bill would stifle such state-specific initiatives by imposing a centralised regulatory regime on non-major ports.
He also strongly opposed the move to make the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) into a regulatory body for minor ports as opposed to it being an advisory body. This, Stalin said, encroached upon the state rights, and may end up choking the future development of minor ports.
The chief minister specifically talked about how the proposed composition of the MSDC is problematic.
He stated: “The proposed composition of MSDC, with five secretaries and one joint secretary to the Government of India, along with the administrators of the coastal Union territories as members, is inappropriate as it excludes the secretaries in charge of ports in the maritime states/UTs.”
“Like the GST Council, the MSDC must continue only as an advisory body with ministers concerned of the Union and maritime states/UTs as members and officers should only be special invitees,” he suggested.
Even though some of the suggestions from the maritime states and other stakeholders have been accommodated, the revised draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022 still largely ignores our concerns and stifles state-specific initiatives by imposing a centralised regulatory regime. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZU5kmOLeS9
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) September 22, 2022
Apart from this, the Tamil Nadu chief minister strongly objected to other centralising provisions in the bill such as Chapter V, which prescribed the constitution, functions and powers of the State Maritime Boards. Stalin drew attention to the fact that there are already state legislations governing them.
“As per the proposed bill, if any amendments are required to these Acts, they can be made by the state legislatures based only on the recommendations of the Centre or the MSDC. This would make the legislative process dysfunctional.
“Also, the appellate powers against the orders of the State Maritime Boards currently lie with the respective state governments. However, as per the draft bill, this power will go to the appellate tribunal which has been constituted by the central government for major ports,” Stalin said in his letter while explaining how this would affect the powers of the states to deal with disputes of their own.
The chief minister demanded that Chapter II and III — relating to the MSDC — and Chapter V — relating to the State Maritime Boards — be deleted in their entirety from the draft bill. He also suggested that the MSDC must remain an apex advisory body as before.
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