Monsoon session of Parl concludes as both Houses adjourned sine die

New Delhi: Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned sine die on Friday, bringing down the curtain on the Monsoon session which was marred by repeated disruptions by the opposition over the Manipur violence issue. In Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla announced the adjournment of the House, while Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar declared the adjournment of the Upper House.

Despite the continuous deadlock between the Opposition and the Treasury benches over discussion on Manipur violence issue and statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the both the Houses during the Monsoon Session, Lok Sabha, which began on July 20, functioned for 44 hours and 17 minutes in 17 sittings, while Rajya Sabha functioned for 50 hours and 21 minutes in its 17 sittings.

During the session 20 Bills were introduced in Lok Sabha and 5 Bills were introduced in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha, 22 Bills were passed, while 25 legislations were passed by Rajya Sabha. One Bill each was withdrawn with the leave of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively.

The session witnessed about 45 per cent productivity of Lok Sabha and that of Rajya Sabha was approximately 63 per cent.

Surprisingly, most of the Bills were passed without the participation of Opposition members and any debate in the House.

On the last day of the session, Speaker Om Birla expressed gratitude for cooperation in the proceedings and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of all the parties and MPs.

Some of the important Bills passed in the Monsoon Session include Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, and the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill-2023.

The session also witnessed a no-confidence motion against the government, which was brought by the Opposition’s INDIA alliance. The motion was defeated by a voice vote.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session on Friday amid an uproar by Opposition members, who demanded a discussion and PM Modi’s statement in the House on the situation in Manipur.

When the House reassembled for the post-lunch session, it returned to Lok Sabha the two proposed legislations on the Central and Integrated GST laws by a voice vote without any discussion. The proposed laws seek to levy 28 per cent tax on the full-face value of bets in online gaming, casinos and horse race clubs.

In his valedictory speech, Dhankar said, “We have been able to pass a few Bills during the session that witnessed some lively and animated debate. We could take questions on a few occasions, but I feel that the productivity of the question hour could have been much better.”

Dhankhar regretted that despite his best efforts and the government’s willingness, the Manipur violence issue could not be discussed in the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha chairman had accepted notices under rule 176, but the discussion could not start even after it was sought to be initiated last week.

Later, a middle path was sought to be worked out for holding a discussion under rule 167, but nothing came out of the deliberations as both sides remained adamant on their respective stands.