Pollution, 250th Rajya Sabha session mark Parliament’s 1st week

At the end of the first week, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have consumed 109% and 89% of its allotted time, according to the PRS Legislative Research even as the Opposition parties launched protests on electoral bond, withdrawal of Special Protection Group (SPG) protection from the Gandhi family members and other issues.

The first week of Parliament’s winter session witnessed the longest calling attention discussion in 13 years, focus on pollution and a special discussion on the historic 250th session of the Rajya Sabha.

The first week of Parliament’s winter session witnessed the longest calling attention discussion in 13 years, focus on pollution and a special discussion on the historic 250th session of the Rajya Sabha. (RSTV/PTI Photo) (PTI)

At the end of the first week, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have consumed 109% and 89% of its allotted time, according to the PRS Legislative Research even as the Opposition parties launched protests on electoral bond, withdrawal of Special Protection Group (SPG) protection from the Gandhi family members and other issues.

The Calling Attention discussion—a debate that seeks the attention and the response of the government on a raging issue—was given in the Upper House by three members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The debate lasted for over three hours, making it the longest such discussion in the last 43 sessions and after 13 years, said a Rajya Sabha document.

So far, just one bill—The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 — has been cleared by both Houses. The bill seeks to remove the Congress president as a permanent member in a trust that runs the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial.

Another important bill, which aims to regulate surrogacy, has been referred to a select committee comprising members of different parties. This is seen as a major departure from the “fast-tracking” of bills in the last session, when most of the bills, including the one to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir, were cleared without review of parliamentary committees, leading to protests.

According to PRS data, Lok Sabha spent 63% time in non-legislative discussions, indicating a healthy balance between the government business and opposition-sponsored issues.

The session had its moments of controversies. A meeting of the urban development standing committee had to be deferred as many MPs and officials for deposition didn’t turn up. “Rajya Sabha has reported productivity of 90.50% during the first week of the ongoing winter session which is the landmark 250th session of the Upper House. The House has availed 25 hours 54 minutes of the available time of 28 hours 37 minutes during the first five working days. While 2 hours 43 minutes of time has been lost due to forced adjournments for some time on two days, Members of the House sat for 1 hour 06 minutes beyond scheduled time resulting in a net loss of I hour 43 minutes during the first week of the session that began on the 18th of this month,” said a press release from Rajya Sabha secretariat.