Union government has approved official amendments to the Major Port Authorities Bill 2016.
The amendments are based on the recommendations of the department related parliamentary standing committee.
What is the MPA 2016 bill about?
Under the Major Port Authorities Act 1963, 12 major ports had been created in India.
All major ports are managed by the respective Board of Port Trusts.
Trusts have members appointed by the central government.
The MPA, 2016 Bill provides for the creation of a Board of Major Port Authority for each major port.
The Boards will succeed the existing Port Trusts.
The proposed Board will comprise of a Chairperson and a deputy Chairperson.
Both of them will be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of a select committee.
Besides, the Bill allows for more Private-Public partnership and market based tariff fixing for generating revenues.
What are the recent amendments?
The Cabinet has recently accepted some of the recommendations of the Standing Committee on the Bill.
The number of the Labour representatives to be appointed in the Port Authority Board among the serving employees of the Port has been increased from one to two.
This is to represent the interests of the employees.
The focus is also being emphasised on re-skilling the workforce.
After commencement of the Act, for PPP projects, the concessionaire shall be free to fix the tariff based on market conditions.
Presiding Officer and Members of the Adjudicatory Board shall be appointed by the Central Government.
This would be on the recommendations of the Selection Committee.
Central Government shall have the power to remove the Presiding Officer or any member of the Adjudicatory Board following the prescribed manner.
What are the existing concerns in ports?
Trust boards have turned into fiefdoms of bureaucrats and politicians.
The development of ports has suffered, with decisions not being taken in an objective, transparent manner.
India’s ports account for over 70% of India’s international trade by value.
It’s necessary to address inefficiencies such as high turnaround time of ships by stepping up modernisation and grappling with careless management.
Specialised cargo handling berths have a higher scope for PPP, mechanisation and improved efficiencies.
What is the significance of the bill?
The Bill comes as a measure for addressing the technical and governance issues in the ports.
It paves the way for governance reform in the management of 11 out of 12 major ports in India that now run as trusts. Notably, the Ennore port is a company.
The Centre acts as both regulator and service provider in these.
Under the provisions of the Bill, the government would only regulate the services provided by private players.
It will not be a service provider itself.
It thus addresses the issue of conflict of interest.
The new Bill marks an effort to promote ease of doing business.
With ‘authority’ status, ports will have a smaller management board.
This enables expedient decisions on modernisation and use of port trust lands in the public interest.
