Winter session of Parliament ends as LS, RS adjourned sine die

New Delhi: Both Houses of Parliament — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — were adjourned sine die on Wednesday, bringing an end to the Winter Session of Parliament that saw Opposition protests on issues such as price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, bringing an end to the Winter Session of Parliament that saw opposition protests on issues such as price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The Winter Session of Parliament, which had begun on 29 November, was scheduled to end on Thursday. During the session, the House saw the passage of nine bills which included the 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. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the valedictory remarks as soon as the House assembled for the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress president Sonia Gandhi were among those present in the House on the last day of the Winter Session.

Floor leaders of political parties met the Speaker in his chamber after the House was adjourned sine die.

The Lok Sabha had 18 sittings during the Session which lasted for 83 hours and 12 minutes.

Debates on COVID-19 and climate change were held during the session lasting 12 hours 26 minutes and six hours and 26 minutes respectively. While 99 members participated in the debate on the pandemic, the discussion on climate change, which remained inconclusive, saw the participation of 61 members.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said the House lost 18 hours and 48 minutes to disruptions, but saw productivity zoom to 204 per cent on 2 December, when the issue of pandemic was taken up for discussion.

The overall productivity of the Lok Sabha was 82 per cent, Birla said.

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.

Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die a day ahead of the scheduled end of the Winter Session of Parliament, with Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu regretting that the Upper House functioned much below its potential due to repeated disruptions.

The session, which started on November, 29 was scheduled to conclude on December 23.

Soon after laying of listed papers and reports, Naidu said he was not happy to share with members the that the House functioned "much below its potential".

"I urge all of you to...reflect and introspect if 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," he said.

The chairman stressed that rulings, regulations and procedures have to be followed and said precedents, decency and decorum has to be maintained by members in the House.

He also called on members for "realisation of what has happened is wrong" and said that "we should all work towards a constructive and positive atmosphere for the larger interest of the country".

Naidu wished MPs a Merry Christmas and a prosperous English New Year, and also conveyed his greetings for Makar Sankranti, Pongal and other upcoming festivals.

The session was a stormy one as it witnessed several disruptions by members of opposition parties, including they trooping into the Well of the House, carrying placards, over the suspension of 12 MPs for their "unruly" conduct in the previous session in August.

Opposition members also protested on the Special Investigation Team's report regarding the 3 October Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh and farmers' issues, among others.

Despite disruptions and loss of business hours, the Rajya Sabha passed several key bills, including those related to electoral reforms and surrogacy.