The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was passed by Lok Sabha yesterday. The Bill will be discussed next by Rajya Sabha. Unlike the Lok Sabha, where the UPA government holds a majority in the House, the composition is different in Rajya Sabha. As on 28th December 2011, the total strength of Rajya Sabha is 243 members . The UPA has a combined strength of 95 members in the House, well below the 50% mark. (Of course, there will be some absent members which will change the arithmetic a bit.) The passage of the Bill thus depends on the stand taken by other political parties and their numbers in the House. Here's how the figures stack up:
| Party | Numbers |
| Indian National Congress (INC) | 71 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) | 7 |
| Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) | 7 |
| All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) | 6 |
| Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | 2 |
| Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) | 1 |
| Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) | 1 |
| Total UPA | 95 |
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) | 51 |
| Janata Dal (United) | 8 |
| Shiv Sena (SS) | 4 |
| Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) | 3 |
| Total NDA | 66 |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 13 |
| Communist Party of India (CPI) | 5 |
| All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) | 1 |
| Total Left | 19 |
| Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP ) | 18 |
| Biju Janata Dal (BJD ) | 6 |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK ) | 5 |
| Samajwadi Party (SP ) | 5 |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD ) | 4 |
| Asom Gana Parishad (AGP ) | 2 |
| Bodoland People's Front (BPF ) | 1 |
| Indian National Lok Dal (INLD ) | 1 |
| Lok Janasakti Party (LJP ) | 1 |
| Mizo National Front (MNF ) | 1 |
| Nagaland People's Front (NPF ) | 1 |
| Telugu Desam Party (TDP ) | 4 |
| Nominated | 8 |
| Independent and others | 6 |
| Total | 243 |
The Andhra Pradesh government issued an Ordinance on October 15, 2010, which stipulated conditions for the microfinance activities in the State. This Ordinance was ratified two months later on December 15, 2010 by the lower house of the Andhra Pradesh assembly. The key features of the Bill are: •All MFIs should be registered with the district authority. •No person should be a member of more than one SHG. •All MFIs shall make public the rate of interest charged by them on the loans extended. •There would be a penalty on the use of coercive action by the MFIs. •Any person who contravenes any provision of the Ordinance shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period of 6 months or a fine up to the amount of Rs 10,000, or both. The State assembly accepted most of the features from the earlier Ordinance in the Bill. However, the demand for a cap on the interest rates charged by the MFIs for the loans extended to the SHGs was rejected during the ratification.
