Parliament was adjourned sine die on Friday after the conclusion of its monsoon session which had 17 sittings since 20 July and saw rejection of a no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha against the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaker Om Birla said the no-confidence moved by Congress member Gaurav Gogoi was discussed for three days from 8 August and the discussion lasted 19 hours 59 minutes. As many as 60 members took part in the discussion. The prime minister replied to the debate.
In all, 20 Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha and 22 were passed, Birla said. He said the productivity of the House during the 12th session of the current 17th Lok Sabha was 45 per cent.
The Speaker expressed gratitude for cooperation in the proceedings and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of all parties and MPs.
Due to disruptions, only 50 starred questions were answered orally during the session. On the 9th August, all 20 listed starred Questions were answered orally.
In a large output of their work, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees of the Lok Sabha presented 65 reports and 45 official statements were made.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar referred to disruption of proceedings during the session and said a total of 50 hours and 21 minutes were lost during the 17 sittings of the 260th session due to avoidable disruptions, adversely impacting the overall productivity of the session.
“Once again, we yielded to the allure of narrow interests and allowed disorder to be the new normal in the proceedings of the House. It appears that my appeals have not resonated well with our members. The frequent unwholesome spectacle of disruptions only indicates that my message has not found the attentive audience it deserves,” Dhankhar said.
The Chairman said the House witnessed a positive development. The House had given fair representation to women members to be part of the panel of Vice-Chairman, he said. “I think they have vindicated their role and made us proud,” Mr Dhankhar said.
In a commendable endeavour, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat started a two-week Rajya Sabha Internship Programme, with an inaugural batch of 20 interns from North Eastern States, he said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said “A total of 22 Bills were passed in the Lok Sabha, 25 Bills in the Rajya Sabha and 23 Bills were passed in both Houses.” He said while the productivity of the Lok Sabha was around 45 per cent, the Rajya Sabha had 63 per cent productivity.
Some of the Bills passed during the session were The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023, The Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023, The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 and The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023.
Three Bills of the Home Ministry to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act have been sent to the Home Standing Committee.
Hitting out at the Opposition, the Union Minister said “Unfortunately, the opposition for political reasons did not participate in the discussion (on the Bills), they participated only in the Delhi Services Bill…The government never wanted a bill to be passed without discussion, of course, we have not passed without discussion. In the Rajya Sabha discussions on almost all Bills were held.”