From farm to elections laws: How productive was the Winter Session of Parliament

New Delhi, Dec 22: The Winter Session of Parliament had 18 sittings and witnessed the passing of the Farm Laws Repeal Bill and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill.

The Lok Sabha session lost 18 hours and 48 minutes due to disruptions on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue.

Speaker Om Birla said that the lower house witnessed record productivity of 204 per cent on December 2. He said that the overall productivity of the Lok Sabha was 82 per cent.

Farm Laws Repeal Bill, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill and legislations to fix the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI at five years and supplementary demands for grants were passed in the Lok Sabha.

The government introduced 12 Bills during the session, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to increase the marriageable age for girls from 18 years to 21 years.
The Lok Sabha had 18 sittings of which the Session lasted for 83 hours and 12 minutes. There were debates on COVID-19 and climate change during the session lasting 12 hours and 26 minutes and 6 hours and 26 minutes respectively.

99 members took part in debates on the pandemic. The discussion on climate change remained inconclusive and witnessed the participating of 61 members.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, Congress President Sonia Gandhi were present in the Lok Sabha on the last day of the Winter Session. The session began on November 29 and was to conclude on December 23.

Amidst continuous protests by the Opposition, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Venkaiah Naidu decided to end the session.

The Rajya Sabha functioned much below its potential. I urge you to introspect and reflect how this session could have been different and better. I don't want to speak elaborately on the course of the session that would lead me to make a very critical view, Naidu told the MPs.

It is time for realisation of what happened is wrong and we should all work towards a constructive and positive atmosphere for the larger interest of the country, he added. Rulings, regulations and procedures have to be followed and precedents, decency and decorum have to be maintained by the members in the House.

Rajya Sabha witnessed protests everyday following the suspension of 12 MPs. There were disruptions while demanding the removal of Minister of State for Home, Ajay Mishra over the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident.