After the adjournment of both the Houses on Friday due to clashes between the Center and Opposition MPs, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has held the opposition responsible for the decrease in the productivity of the House during the winter session.
Rijiju said that a total of 20 sittings of the Lok Sabha and 19 of the Rajya Sabha were held during the winter session in which five bills were introduced and four were passed by the lower house, three bills were passed by the Rajya Sabha, and Indian Air Force. Legislation, 2024 has been passed by both houses.
The minister said that on the occasion of the completion of 75 years of the Constitution, the Constitution Day was celebrated at the Central Hall on November 26 and a detailed discussion was held in the National Assembly on November 13 and 14 and November 16 and 17. The discussion in the Lok Sabha lasted for 15 hours and 43 minutes in which 62 members participated. The discussion in RS lasted for 17 hours and 41 minutes, in which 80 people participated.
Rijiju said the productivity of the lower house was 54.5% and the upper house was 40%. “We are not satisfied with this… We should not have missed any opportunity to serve the nation… But such activities in the Parliament… have damaged the business and also hurt the reputation”, he said.
Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar also highlighted the low productivity in his closing remarks and said, “The stark reality is alarming, the productivity of this session stands at only 40.03%, with only 43 hours and 27 minutes of effective functioning.” He also said that the time has come to choose between meaningful debate and destructive obstruction.
Responding to a question regarding the poor presence of BJP MPs and absence of the Prime Minister during the voting for introducing the One Nation One Election Bill in the Lok Sabha, Rijiju said, “Introduction is a formality. The actual consideration and passing will come at a later stage after receiving the report from the JPC. Modi ji himself had said that the Bill Should be sent to JPC.
Rijiju said that after four days of uproar, leaders of all parties met in the Speaker’s chamber where they agreed to allow the House to function smoothly. But suddenly the Congress spoiled the atmosphere by wearing slogans, wearing jackets and wearing black clothes. I will meet Congress leaders and appeal them not to repeat this in future,” he added.
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