Rajya Sabha passes MSME Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, amid opposition uproar over Amit Shah's absence
New Delhi, August 3, 2026 (ANI): The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026, by voice vote, even as the House witnessed sustained sloganeering and protests from Opposition members over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's continued absence from Parliament over the police action on student protesters in Delhi.
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi moved the Bill for passage in the Upper House. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 29.
The proposed legislation aims to improve cash flows for small businesses, curb delays in payments and simplify regulatory compliance, with the objective of enhancing the ease of doing business for micro, small and medium enterprises.
"This bill clearly indicates that the objective is to address the existing challenges of the MSME sector, reform the administrative framework, ease business payments, and promote regulatory compliance," said Jitan Ram Manjhi in the House.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2026 seeks "to align the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 with the changing MSME landscape, to enhance the Ease of Doing Business and bring trust-based regulations in the MSME ecosystem."
The document further says the Bill proposes "to strengthen the mechanism for addressing delayed payments and provide for enforcement of arbitral awards for the MSEs, and to introduce flexibility and create enabling provisions for States to decide the composition of the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC), thereby forming more MSEFCs."
In simpler terms, the proposed law aims to make it easier for MSMEs to do business, improve the system for resolving delayed payment issues, ensure arbitration awards can be enforced, and give states greater flexibility to constitute more Facilitation Councils for resolving disputes involving micro and small enterprises. (ANI)