Says the Bill is against principles of cooperative federalismThe Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board (APMB), which embarked on an ambitious programme of building a string of ports and fishing harbours along its nearly 975-km-long coastline, is strongly opposing the draft Indian Ports Bill, 2020, mainly because it proposes the establishment of a single Maritime Port Regulatory Authority for all minor ports. The board expressed its reservations in writing to the Secretary of Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways recently by highlighting the fact that the legislation sought to usurp the powers of minor ports while sparing the major ports to have their own regulatory authorities under the Major Ports Regulatory Authority Act, 2020. The APMB that pointed out that it was the State governments which provided land and created infrastructure for the development of minor ports. Ramakrishna Reddy said that since the minor ports were a matter of Pre-Constitutional Law, the draft Indian Ports Bill, 2020 ought to be settled by the Law Commission of India by taking into consideration the views of all maritime States. He stated that the Bill had not been placed before the MSDC though the proposal to repeal the Indian Ports Act of 1908 was initiated through the draft Indian Ports Bill, 2018 and the present Bill was brought forth.

Source: The Hindu January 26, 2021 19:29 UTC