Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022- Relevance for UPSC Exam
- GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022 in News
- Recently, the government has issued Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022 for stakeholder consultation as part of its plan to revamp the British era legislation for the port sector.
- The draft IP Bill 2022 seeks to repeal and replace the existing 1908 India Ports Act.
Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022
- About: It has been prepared to consolidate and amend the laws relating to ports, for the prevention and containment of pollution at ports.
- It also aims to ensure compliance with the country’s obligation under the maritime treaties and international instruments to which India is a party.
- Key Objectives: The draft IP Bill 2022 seeks to repeal and replace the existing 1908 Act. The primary objectives of the proposed bill are four-fold:
- Promote integrated planning between States inter-se and Centre-States through a purely consultative and recommendatory framework;
- Ensure prevention of pollution measures for all ports in India while incorporating India’s obligations under international treaties;
- Address lacunae in the dispute resolution framework required for burgeoning ports sector;
- Usher-in transparency and cooperation in development and other aspects through use of data.
Need for Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022
IP Bill 2022 has been prepared in order to-
- Ensure compliance with the country’s obligation under the maritime treaties and international instruments to which India is a party;
- Take measures for conservation of ports;
- 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, and
- Ensure optimum utilization of the coastline of India, as may be necessary, and
- Provide for matters ancillary and incidental thereto, or connected therewith.
Draft Indian Ports Bill, 2022- Key Features
- The proposed bill will homogenize and streamline the development of the maritime sector, along with, promoting ease of doing business by eliminating unnecessary delays, disagreements and defining responsibilities.
- It will incorporate State Maritime Boards in the national framework.
- Additionally, Maritime State Development Council will ensure cooperative federalism where Centre and State/UT Governments will work together towards preparing progressive road map for the country.
- The redundant provisions of the Act have been deleted or replaced with contemporaneous provisions.
- Further, existing penalties in the Act which are outdated have been updated with respect to amounts and offences relevant to present day scenario.
Importance of Chabahar Port