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The Winter Session of Parliament which commenced on November 25 was adjourned sine die on Friday. During its 26-day tenure, the session facilitated 20 sittings of the Lok Sabha and 19 sittings of the Rajya Sabha.
According to PRS Legislative Research, the Lok Sabha functioned for 52 per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha functioned for 39 per cent of its scheduled time. In the first week, both Houses functioned for less than 10 per cent of the scheduled time. Lok Sabha sat an extra day on a Saturday to discuss the workings of the Constitution. During the session, two key bills were passed by Parliament. The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, which replaces the Aircraft Act, of 1934, aims to modernize the regulatory framework governing civil aviation while retaining most provisions of the original Act. The Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2024, another notable legislation, authorizes additional expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India for the fiscal year 2024-25. As a Money Bill, it was passed by the Lok Sabha and deemed approved by the Rajya Sabha without amendments. This bill was introduced during the Budget Session, 2024. Five new bills were introduced during this Winter Session, targeting various legislative priorities. The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to enable simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, a significant step towards electoral reforms. The bill however was moved to a Joint Parliamentary panel on demand by opposition parties. Similarly, the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims for synchronized elections for the legislatures of Puducherry, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir alongside Lok Sabha polls. Both bills have been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further examination. The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024, introduced on December 10, proposes reforms to replace the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. It focuses on ship registration, maritime training, seafarer welfare, and pollution control. Another maritime-focused bill, the Coastal Shipping Bill 2024, seeks to regulate vessels engaged in trade within India's coastal waters and is pending in the Lok Sabha. Progress was also made on bills introduced in earlier sessions. Legislation such as the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was passed by Lok Sabha. Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 were also advanced through one House. Several other older bills, including the Pesticide Management Bill, 2020 and the Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Pharmacy Bill, 2005, continue to await resolution. These examples highlight the extensive legislative backlog and the complexity of parliamentary deliberations. As the session concluded, 33 bills remained pending in Parliament. This includes newer introductions like the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2024, as well as older proposals such as the Seeds Bill, 2004, and the Delhi Rent (Amendment) Bill, 1997, which have been under consideration for decades. According to PRS Legislative Research, in this session, Question Hour did not function in Rajya Sabha for 15 out of 19 days. While, in Lok Sabha, Question Hour did not function for more than 10 minutes on 12 out of 20 days. The Constitution remained a key topic of this Parliament Session. The issue was discussed for 16 hours in Lok Sabha and 17 hours in Rajya Sabha. However, no half-an-hour or short-duration discussions were held. These discussions require Ministers to respond to issues raised by members. While several notices for adjournment motions were received in Lok Sabha, none of them were accepted. In Rajya Sabha, several notices were filed under Rule 267. None of these were accepted or discussed. These devices allow scheduled House business to be set aside to discuss matters of urgent importance. The first supplementary budget for 2024-25 was discussed for 7.3 hours in Lok Sabha. An additional expenditure of Rs 44,143 crore was approved, which amounts to 1 per cent of the total expenditure for 2024-25. Before Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved a motion that the two bills concerning 'One Nation, One Election' be referred to a Joint Committee of the two Houses. The motion, which had names of 27 members from the Lok Sabha, was approved amid din in the House. The committee will have 12 members from the Rajya Sabha. The Committee will submit its report to Lok Sabha by the first day of the last week of the next session. Speaker Om Birla said maintaining the dignity of Parliament is a collective responsibility. He said there that there should be no protest at any of the "dwars" of Parliament, saying it is not appropriate. He said the Parliament will have to take appropriate action in case of violation. Parliament witnessed parallel protests from both the Treasury and Opposition benches outside the parliament on Thursday morning. The ruling BJP MPs were protesting in the Parliament's premises against the Congress party for "insulting" Babasaheb Ambedkar. INDIA Bloc MPs led by Rahul Gandhi held a protest in the Parliament premises and demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on Babasaheb Ambedkar. (ANI)
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