New Delhi: Parliament’s budget session that ended a day ahead of schedule on Thursday saw 139% productivity in the Lok Sabha and 99% in the Rajya Sabha, with each house clearing 11 bills, including a law to merge Delhi’s three municipal corporations. is included. The Criminal Procedure (Identity) Bill gives broad powers to law enforcement agencies to collect biometrics.
The premature end of the session – this is the sixth consecutive session to be adjourned ahead of schedule – sparked a political debate with the Congress accusing the government of avoiding a debate on price hikes.
Congress Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Chowdhury claimed that government managers agreed to a debate on the recent hike in fuel prices, but lagged behind in the form of rising prices of petrol, diesel, coking gas and even kerosene. Removed “cannot be managed anymore”.
“In the Business Advisory Committee (the panel to decide the House agenda), government managers agreed to discuss the fuel price situation, thinking they could manage the situation. But when fuel prices went up and even kerosene, fuel for poor families, was not spared, the government ended the session quickly to avoid any debate,” he claimed. Did.
The budget session, divided into two parts, lasted for a total of 27 days. Lok Sabha worked for 177 hours 50 minutes while Rajya Sabha worked for 127 hours 54 minutes.
The government rejected the allegations. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed that “Opposition MPs themselves had requested that the House should be adjourned a day before the scheduled closing date. In the Rajya Sabha BAC meeting, the MPs asked for the House to be adjourned because of Ram Navami celebrations.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge argued, “We cooperated with the government in passing the bills. If the productivity of Lok Sabha was 139% and that of Rajya Sabha was almost 100%, then the credit goes to the opposition. But we wanted to discuss how the retail prices of petrol diesel, CNG, LPG are increasing despite the fall in crude oil prices. But the government insisted that we raise it in the supplementary budget discussion.
Joshi said: “I want to highlight just one thing… Finance Bill, Supplementary Demands for Grants, J&K Budget were discussed thoroughly, everything was allowed.”
Speaking outside Parliament, a senior BJP functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the opposition had an opportunity to raise the issue of hike in prices of essential commodities and food items during the discussion on the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill.
Meanwhile, Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh said the opposition was ready to discuss two more government bills, but the government was not ready to pass them. This shows that the government did not have enough work for the session.”
The budget session, divided into two parts, lasted for a total of 27 days. Lok Sabha worked for 177 hours 50 minutes while Rajya Sabha worked for 127 hours 54 minutes.
In his concluding remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, “Productivity stood at 139%. In this session, 40 hours were allotted to discuss important issues. Under Rule 377, 182 starred questions were answered and 488 issues of public importance were raised.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, however, had to deal with the disruption in the House on Thursday. “This is not the way. I will not allow it. You cannot force me,” Naidu told the opposition, demanding a debate on the price hike, “Is this the message you want to give to the nation on the last day of the session? Huh?”
