Parliament Winter Session: Lok Sabha was more productive than the Rajya Sabha
Eleven Bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament in the Winter Session. Today, the Parliament was adjourned sine die. Lok Sabha registered 82 per cent productivity while for the Rajya Sabha it was 47 per cent. A session wrap.
The Winter session of Parliament has concluded as the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die today December 22. The Winter Session of Parliament was scheduled between November 29 and December 23.
In a press conference, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Lok Sabha witnessed a high level of productivity during the Winter Session compared to the Rajya Sabha.
“Despite the ruckus by the Opposition, Lok Sabha registered 82 per cent productivity and Rajya Sabha had a 47 per cent productivity in Session,” Joshi said, adding: “Opposition’s conduct throughout the session was unfortunate and they repeatedly resorted to creating ruckus and disturbing the proceedings.”
Rajya Sabha Speaker Venkaiah Naidu expressed his concern over the functioning of the House that concluded today, a day before schedule. “I am not happy to share with you that the House functioned much below its potential,” Naidu said.
Reportedly, 49 hours and 32 minutes were lost due to disruptions and forced adjournments in the Upper House. The time lost amounts to 52 per cent of available time.
Time spent for legislative work
According to data available on PRS Legislative Research, a Delhi-based non-profit group, of a total functioning time of 83.2 hours, Lok Sabha spent 26.5 hours discussing legislation. The maximum time — 37 hours — was spent discussing non-legislative matters. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, spent 21.7 hours to discuss legislation out of the 45.6 hours of its functioning hours in the Winter Session.
In short, the time spent discussing legislation was about 32 per cent and 48 per cent of the total functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.
The Bills passed in Parliament indicated there was little time spent to discuss the legislation. For instance, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was passed in the Lok Sabha after a two-minute debate while the Rajya Sabha passed it after an eight-minute debate. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by the Lower House after 26 minutes of discussion while the Upper House discussed it for an hour and three minutes before passing it. This legislation links electoral roll data with Aadhaar ID, allows for updation of rolls four times a year, and makes some provisions gender neutral.
Bills passed in Winter Session
Twelve new Bills were introduced in the Parliament in the Winter Session of the Parliament. These include the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 [which was referred to the Standing Committee yesterday, December 21], the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021.
The following 11 Bills were passed by both the Houses:
1) The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021.
2) The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020.
3) The Dam Safety Bill, 2019.
4) The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
5) The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021.
6) The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019.
7) The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
8) The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
9) The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
10) The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
11) The Appropriation Bill, 2021.