Debate Heats Up Over Jan Vishwas Bill: A Step Towards Ease or A Shift Towards Weakening Law?

The Jan Vishwas Bill's second edition sparked intense debate in the Lok Sabha. The BJP touts it as a major decriminalisation effort to boost business ease, while Congress sees it as promoting corruption and undermining rule of law. This legislation seeks to amend 79 central acts, affecting 23 ministries.

The Lok Sabha witnessed a fiery exchange on Wednesday as government and opposition members clashed over the Jan Vishwas Bill's second edition. Positioned by the BJP as a crucial move towards decriminalisation for business facilitation, Congress criticized it for allegedly promoting corruption and diluting the rule of law.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal emphasized the bill's role in decriminalizing minor offences to enhance business and living standards by amending 79 central Acts. In contrast, Congress's Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy accused the bill of normalizing corruption and questioned its impact on women's safety and accountability.

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya defended the bill, citing it as India's largest decriminalising initiative and praising Prime Minister Modi's reform vision. The Jan Vishwas Bill aims to reform 784 provisions, decriminalising 717, to foster business innovation while opposition members voiced concerns about eroding accountability and weakening legal frameworks.

(With inputs from agencies.)