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First half of Budget session ends, House records high productivity
The session, starting on a sombre note in the memory of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar who died on February 6, spent extra hours to debate the President’s speech as well as the Union Budget.
A rare, disruption-free 10 days of work, two marathon debates and oral replies to more than 100 questions marked a productive first half of Parliament’s Budget session as the Lok Sabha used 121% of its allotted time and the Rajya Sabha clocked 99% utilisation, records show.
The first half of the session saw more work and better use of time than all the Parliament sessions in 2021. The short monsoon session in 2020, held amid a raging pandemic, had utilised 145% and 99% time in the Lower and Upper House, respectively.
The session, starting on a sombre note in the memory of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar who died on February 6, spent extra hours to debate the President’s speech as well as the Union Budget.
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“Instead of the allotted 12 hours, discussion on the President’s address ran for 15.13 hours with the participation of 60 members. Another 60 members tabled their speeches,” Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said in the House on Friday.
“Similarly, instead of the allotted 12 hours, discussion on the Budget was held for 15.33 hours, with 81 MPs participating, and another 63 laid their speeches on the table,” Birla said. The Rajya Sabha spent 13.15 hours on the debate on the President’s speech and 9.15 hours on the Budget debate.
Deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh noted that the Upper House did not suffer from forced adjournments and functioned nearly half-an-hour more than the scheduled time.
“As a result, the members could not only participate effectively in the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address and on the general discussion on Budget but also were able to raise 51 starred questions, 71 Zero Hour submissions and about 50 special mentions,” he said.
But with the election process getting over by March 10, the second half of the session starting Mach 14 might be more politically intensive and challenging for the presiding officers. According to leaders from both the Opposition and the Treasury benches, the outcome of the elections might weigh on the second half of the session.
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Birla hoped for cooperation in the future too, and said, “This tradition strengthens our democracy. Our parliamentary system is also strengthened by such rich dialogue. The trust and confidence of the citizens of the country also increases in democratic institutions.”
The session saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming down heavily on the Congress in both Houses of Parliament after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fiery speech that reminded the government that India is a union of states and alleged that the country is isolated and surrounded. In the Rajya Sabha, Congress members staged a walkout after the PM listed the hypothetical benefits for the country had the party not existed.
