Lok Sabha lost two hrs, Rajya Sabha covers more business

New Delhi, Dec 7 (UNI) The loss of time from the normal hour of business during the Winter Session in the Lok Sabha was just two hours, while Rajya Sabha did more business said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

Addressing the customary press conference on the concluding day of the Winter Session of Parliament the Minister said, though the Lok Sabha lost 19 hours due to disruption in the proceedings of the House it could make up 17 hours by sitting extra time.

Similarly, the Rajya Sabha lost 18 hours but compensated 26 hours by sitting extra time in the House.

During this short winter session, the Lok Sabha passed 14 important Legislative Bills and introduced 13 Legislative Bills for discussions.

The Rajya Sabha passed as many as 15 Bills and introduced one Bill for discussion.

Mr Dasmunsi said though Nandigram issue was a State subject, still the Speaker allowed it for discussion as it was related to the setting up of Special Economic Zone.

He said the statutory resolution seeking approval of the proclamation issued by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on November 20, 2007, under Article 356 of the constitution relating to the State of Karnataka was considered and adopted by both the Houses of Parliament.

He thanked the political parties for extending their cooperation in running the Houses of Parliament which helped the Government to pass the financial business transacted which included -- Demands for Excess Grants (General) for 2005-06, the supplementary demands for grants (General) and (Railways) for 2007-08. Their related appropriation bills were introduced, discussed and passed by the Lok Sabha during the session.

He said contrary to public opinion the Government allowed the structured debate on Indo-US Nuke deal where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also participated and Leader of the House and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave the reply.

The scenario was not different in the Rajya Sabha, he added.

This only shows that the UPA Government does not want to hide anything from the public and is rather keen on informing them about various issues of national interest to the public, Mr Dasmunsi said.

Some of the important Bills passed by both the House of Parliament includes, the Payment and Settlement Systems Bill, 2006, the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2007, and the Armed Forces Tribunal Bill, 2007, he added.

UNI