The National Waterways Act, 2016 is an Act of Parliament of India. It was tabled in
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
by
Minister of Shipping The Minister of Shipping was a British government post created in the First World War and again in the Second World War. In 1941 it was merged into the position of Minister of Transport which was then renamed Minister of War Transport.
Minister of ...
,
Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways c ...
on 5 May 2015. The Act merges 5 existing Acts which have declared the 5
National Waterways and proposes 101 additional National Waterways. The Act came into force from 12 April 2016.
History
The National Waterways Bill, 2015 was tabled in
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
by
Minister of Shipping The Minister of Shipping was a British government post created in the First World War and again in the Second World War. In 1941 it was merged into the position of Minister of Transport which was then renamed Minister of War Transport.
Minister of ...
,
Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari
Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways c ...
on 5 May 2015.
It was passed in Lok Sabha on 21 December 2015 and then in
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...
on 9 March 2016.
Then, it was finally passed in Lok Sabha again on 15 March 2016 due to the amendments made in Rajya Sabha moved by Minister of State for Shipping
Pon Radhakrishnan
Pon Radhakrishnan (born 1 March 1952) is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping between May 2014 and May 2019. Earlier ...
.
[
]
Provisions
- Under Entry 24 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, the central government can make laws on shipping and navigation on inland waterways which are classified as national waterways by Parliament by law.
- The Bill identifies additional 106 waterways as national waterways. The Schedule of the Bill also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each waterway.
- The Bill repeals the five Acts that declare the existing national waterways. These five national waterways are now covered under the Bill.
- The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that while inland waterways are recognised as a fuel efficient, cost effective and environment-friendly mode of transport, it has received lesser investment as compared to roads and railways. Since inland waterways are lagging behind other modes of transport, the central government has evolved a policy for integrated development of inland waterways.
See also
* Inland Waterways Authority of India
* The Inland Vessels (Amendment) Act, 2007
References
External
The National Waterways Bill, 2015 on PRS
Acts of the Parliament of India 2016
Waterways in India
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (India)
2016 in Indian economy
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