The Winter Session of Parliament saw 12 new bills being introduced till Tuesday, 21 December, and 10 bills passed, including two that had been tabled in previous sessions.
The Winter Session of Parliament came to an end a day ahead of schedule on Wednesday, with both houses adjourned Sine Die.
Having begun on November 29, the session was dotted with Opposition protests on a wide range of issues and also the suspension of 13 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, spent 21.7 hours debating legislation, out of the 45.4 hours that it functioned in the Winter Session.
The Bills passed in Parliament also reflected the small amount of time spent on the actual discussion on the different laws.
The Farm Laws Repeal bill was passed after a two-minute debate on the Lok sabha, and an 8-minute debate in Rajya Sabha.
10 BILLS TAKEN UP DURING WINTER SESSION
- Election Laws (Amendment) Bill
- The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill 2021 (awaiting President’s nod)
- The Delhi Special Police Establishment Amendment Bill 2021 (President assent given on Dec 21. Bill is now Act)
- The Central Vigilance Commission Amendment Bill 20212021 (President assent given on Dec 21. Bill is now Act)
- The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill
- Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 (Presidential Assent given. Bill is now an Act.)
- Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill 2020
- The Surrogacy Regulation Bill, 2019
- Dam Safety Bill
- The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (President Assent received on Dec 18. Bill is now an Act)
How Productive Was the Parliament?
As per data collected by non-profit legislative research organisation PRS, while the Lok Sabha clocked a productivity of 77%, the Rajya Sabha was 43% productive during the winter session.
“Lok Sabha registered 82% productivity while Rajya Sabha witnessed 47% productivity in the Winter Session of the Parliament,” said Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi.
The productivity of the lower house rose to 204% on 2 December, when a debate was held on COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairperson Venkaiah Naidu, said, “I’m not happy to share with you that House functioned much below its potential. I urged all of you to collectively and individually reflect and introspect if this Session could have been different and better.”