The Union Government is considering curtailing the ongoing Budget and Monsoon session well ahead of the scheduled duration till August 14.

Government sources told BusinessLine that after the discussions on the Railway and General Budget are over and the finance Bills are passed in the Rajya Sabha, there is very little legislative business left to be covered. Most of the important bills have either been introduced or passed.

For instance, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Act, 2014, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2014 as well as the National Institute of Design Bill, 2013 have been passed in both the Houses.

After the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee on Thursday, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Javadekar informed the Upper House that a short-duration discussion will take place on Monday on the Gaza situation. The Government had listed it as part of its business this week but the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said it cannot take place.

The Chairman ruled against the Minister and the Government was forced to retract and list the discussion in the business again on Monday.

Additionally, discussions on all the other important issues — the drought situation, price rise et al — have already taken place in both the Houses and, besides the Gaza situation, the Opposition too does not have any pressing demands for discussions that need to be conducted.

All things considered, beyond July 31, neither the Government nor the Opposition has any critical issue that Parliament needs to delve into.

The ongoing session, therefore, may well be adjourned sine die in the first week of August.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW