The Odisha Legislative Assembly took a significant step towards regulatory simplification on Tuesday by passing the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2025. This landmark legislation grants permanent status to a recently promulgated ordinance designed to decriminalise numerous outdated and obstructive provisions across a spectrum of state laws.
Moving from Punishment to Facilitation
While moving the Bill for passage, Industries Minister Sampad Charan Swain stated that the legislation is inspired by the Centre's Jan Vishwas Act of 2023. Its core objective is to rationalise legal clauses that hinder both the ease of doing business and the ease of living for citizens. The government identified, reviewed, and reformed sixteen different legislations spanning crucial areas like labour, urban governance, agriculture, health, and trade.
"The objective is to move away from treating minor, unintentional violations as crimes, and instead handle them through civil penalties," Swain explained. He emphasised that this shift will foster a more facilitative legal environment, reduce the burden on the overworked criminal justice system, and paradoxically encourage better compliance by making rules more rational.
Key Reforms and Rationalised Penalties
The minister clarified that the Bill does not decriminalise offences with serious implications for public health, administration, or the environment. However, for minor infractions, it systematically replaces imprisonment with monetary fines to promote trust-based governance.
The changes are substantial and wide-ranging:
- Under the Prevention of Gambling Act, jail terms are scrapped. Offenders now face fines up to Rs 5,000, while owners of gaming houses can be fined up to Rs 25,000.
- Violations of agricultural market norms, which earlier carried a six-month jail sentence, will now attract a fine of Rs 75,000.
- Arrest provisions under various town planning and building rules have been withdrawn.
- Jail clauses related to fire service compliance have been removed.
While removing jail terms for minor offences, the Bill introduces a framework for administrative adjudication to ensure minor violations are handled swiftly and efficiently. All monetary penalties have been carefully rationalised to be fair, reasonable, and subject to revision.
A Consultative Push for Deregulation
Minister Swain highlighted that the proposed reforms resulted from a thorough consultative process. The outdated provisions they replace had created an undue compliance burden, stifled business growth, and erected unnecessary obstacles for ordinary citizens accessing government services.
The legislative journey began when the state cabinet cleared the promulgation of the Odisha Jan Vishwas Ordinance on October 10. The ordinance came into effect on November 3 following an official notification. The Bill, now passed by the assembly, will formally replace the ordinance once it receives the assent of the Governor.
Odisha joins a growing list of Indian states implementing similar deregulation and decriminalisation drives. States like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Tripura, and Meghalaya have already enacted comparable reforms, signalling a nationwide shift towards reducing the fear of imprisonment for procedural lapses and fostering a more business-friendly ecosystem.
