Scheduled to conduct 17 sittings from December 7 till the concluding day of the Winter Session on December 29, both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Friday after having 13 sessions in the last 17 days.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla told media that the session went smooth. “I tried to give adequate time to everyone. Parliamentarians have taken the pledge to fight social evils. I wish there will be more awareness against drugs. We will take such issues and will have a debate on it. Many important bills were passed,” he said.
Amid accusations by the Opposition that the government did not let the debate on the Indian and Chinese troops’ clash along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal’s Tawang, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said it was only after the opposition parties demanded in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) that the session was curtailed.
“BACs of both Houses took cognizance of the demand and sentiments of MPs across party lines for Christmas and Year End celebrations,” Joshi said.
Besides the Tawang clash, which saw ruckus in both the Houses and adjournment given by the Opposition MPs, there were other issues that dominated Parliament.
While nine bills were introduced and seven were passed in the Lok Sabha, two short discussions under Rule 193 were held in the Lower House.
The first one was initiated by Union minister Amit Shah on the issue of drug abuse and steps taken by the government to curb the menace while the second was on the need to promote sports in the country. More than 15 hours were devoted to these two issues in which 119 members participated.
Another matter discussed widely in Parliament was Bihar’s hooch tragedy that isolated Nitish Kumar’s JD-U over the issue.
The Lok Sabha witnessed heated arguments between Treasury and opposition over the health ministry’s directive to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra to follow Covid protocol. Health minister had given a statement on following Covid-appropriate behaviour amid sudden surge in cases in China.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha referred to the Joint Parliament Committee the Multistate Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which aims at strengthening governance, enhancing transparency and bringing reforms in electoral process.
Another bill that was sent to the committee is the Jan Vishwas (Amendments of Provisions) Bill, 2022 to decriminalise and rationalise minor offences to further enhance governance of ease of doing business.
The productivity of Lok Sabha in the Winter Session was 97% and that of Rajya Sabha was 103%.
Rajya Sabha had 13 sittings in the current session and clocked in 64 hours 10 minutes of working, and passed nine bills, submitted 34 reports with 126 members in discussion. The session saw total disruption of 1 hour 26 minutes.
Major Bills Passed
Wildlife bill: The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill 2022 aims to strengthen protection of endangered species of flora and fauna and enhance punishment for illegal wildlife trade.
Energy conservation bill: It mandates use of non-fossil sources, including green hydrogen, green ammonia, biomass and ethanol for energy and establish carbon markets in the country.
New Delhi arbitration bill: The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill seeks to rename the institution to ‘India International Arbitration Centre’ as the Centre feels the name gives the impression that the institute is city-centric as compared to reflecting its national objective.
SC/ST bill: The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Tribes) Orders Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, and Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order of 1967 to exclude the Gond community as a Scheduled Caste in Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and Bhadohi and recognised them as STs in four districts.
Maritime bill: The Maritime Anti-Piracy Bill, 2022 proposes to make special provisions for repression of piracy on high seas and punish for the offence of piracy.
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