Short monsoon session ends, govt claims 80% productivity

During the Monsoon session, 17 Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha. Fourteen Bills were passed in the Lower House, while nine in the Upper House or the Rajya Sabha.

Both houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Friday afternoon with the Rajya Sabha ending the monsoon session with a new chairman in vice president M Venkaiah Naidu. The election of Ram Nath Kovind as the 14th President of India was another highlight of the short session.

The Monsoon session of the Parliament ended as both the Houses were adjourned sine die on Friday. (PTI File Photo)

Despite disruptions, frequent standoffs between the ruling coalition and the opposition, and elections of the President and Vice President, the two Houses clocked nearly 80% productivity, the government said.

During the session, 17 bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha. Fourteen bills were passed in the Lower House and nine in the Upper House or the Rajya Sabha, said parliamentary affairs minister K Ananth Kumar in a post session briefing. This is an “achievement” considering it was a short session (beginning on July 17) and a lot of time was spent on discussions and the two elections, he added.

Both Houses had animated discussions on the agrarian crisis, the devastation caused in different states due to floods, and incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits in the country. On Thursday, the penultimate day, Hamid Ansari retired as Vice President after a decade. The House of Elders also bid farewell to 10 members, including CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, whose party disallowed him a third term.

“The session provided 19 sittings spread over a period of 26 days. The productivity of Lok Sabha was 77.94% and that of Rajya Sabha was 79.95%,” Kumar said. The RS saw two new members — Vinay D Tendulkar and Sampatiya Uikey — join the House while BSP chief Mayawati resigned from her seat.