Expressing concern over reduction in the productivity of Parliament’s winter session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said the Opposition should raise their issues in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha by following established rules and procedures instead of disrupting both the Houses.

“There are rules and procedures in place for raising issues, and we should follow those rules instead of just shouting, creating a ruckus, and disrupting the proceedings of Parliament, which causes great harm to the work of Parliament,” he said while addressing a press conference following the adjournment of the Winter session.

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The winter session of Parliament, which commenced on November 25, was adjourned sine die on Friday. The session provided 20 sittings of Lok Sabha and 19 sittings of Rajya Sabha spreading over 26 days.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on Friday amid protests over Shah’s remarks on BR Ambedkar.

Rijiju said two landmark Bills namely, The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth) Amendment Bill, 2024 and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 to give effect to the mechanism of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State/Union Territory Assemblies under the vision “One Nation, One Election” were introduced in Lok Sabha, on December 17 and got referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on December 20.

He said the productivity of Parliament’s winter session had reduced due to disruptions caused by the Opposition and urged them to avoid similar interruptions in the upcoming Budget session.

“The productivity of the Parliament went down due to disturbances created by the Opposition. We tried a lot to make the Parliament run. I expect and also request the Opposition not to create similar disturbances in the Budget session of Parliament,” he added.

Rijiju said the productivity of Lok Sabha has been approximately 54.5 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha approximately 40 per cent.

“In Lok Sabha, 54.5 per cent and in Rajya Sabha, almost 40 per cent work has been done. We are not satisfied with this because people elected us all and made us members of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. We should have worked as much as we could for the country and left no stone unturned in service to the nation. But we have seen such activities in Parliament which have affected the work and also damaged the dignity of the Parliament. Members of the opposition parties have hindered our work progress due to which the productivity rate has reduced considerably,” he said.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that more than 100 per cent should be done in the Parliament and urged the opposition parties to work together to address this issue of frequent disruption of the proceedings of the House.

“I appeal to the leaders of all parties to work together to address this issue and ensure that the work of Parliament is not disrupted. We should strive to work more than 100 per cent. Whatever the issue is, it should be raised in the Parliament, that is why one has been made a member of parliament,” he said.

Rijiju said during the winter session of the Parliament, 5 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and 4 Bills were passed by Lok Sabha and 3 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha.

He said one Bill namely “The Bhartiya Vayuyaan Vidheyak, 2024” was passed by both the Houses during the session. The Bill seeks to re-enact the Aircraft Act to address the ambiguity owing to insertions/omissions/deletions affected by amendments to the Aircraft Act, 1934 from time to time.

Rijiju said as part of yearlong celebration of 75th anniversary of adoption of the Constitution, a special discussion on the “Glorious journey of 75 years of the Constitution of India” was organised in the Lok Sabha on 13 and 14 December and in the Rajya Sabha on 16 and 17 December.

He said the discussion engaged the Lok Sabha for 15 hours 43 minutes in which 62 members took part and was replied to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Rajya Sabha, the discussion engaged the House for a total time of 17 hours 41 minutes in which 80 Members took part and was replied to by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Rijiju said First Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2024-25 were discussed and voted in full and the related Appropriation Bill was introduced, discussed and passed by Lok Sabha on December 17 after a debate of about 7 hours 21 minutes.