Our Bureau The Winter Session of Parliament will conclude on December 23 and there are just nine sittings left. But more than two-third of the 36 legislations, listed by the Centre for consideration and passage, are yet to be taken up by the House.

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have taken up about a dozen legislations in the first two weeks of the session. Rajya Sabha passed five Bills in the last two weeks, including the Bill to repeal the three farm laws. Lok Sabha passed about seven legislations.

Both Houses usually meet for five to six hours a day. The time for government business is usually three to four hours a day, except on Fridays. So, in effect, there are about 32 hours available for discussion on these 24 Bills. About four Bills are listed for withdrawal, which do not need a discussion.

Awaiting Cabinet nod

Some of the legislations, such as the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill and the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, are yet to be cleared by the Cabinet and circulated to MPs. Bills such as the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Second Amendment) Bill, the Cantonment Bill, the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control & Discipline) Bill, the Indian Antarctica Bill, the Emigration Bill, the Indian Marine Fisheries Bill, the National Dental Commission Bill and the National Nursing Midwifery Commission Bill were supposed to be considered by Parliament in the Winter Session. The government had assured the farmers that Electricity Act amendments, listed earlier, would not be brought to Parliament without consulting the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and other stakeholders.

Productivity declines

The productivity of both the Houses came down in the first two weeks, when compared to the recent previous sessions of Parliament. However, in the second week, both Houses showed signs of coming back to normalcy.

The Rajya Sabha, according to the office of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, worked six per cent more during second week of Winter Session. It clocked 51 per cent productivity and the House spent 34 per cent of functional time on making laws. “The suspension of 12 RS members for an act of the previous session, without following the laid down procedure, is completely undemocratic, unprecedented and a gross violations of Rules of Procedure and Constitutional provisions,” said Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Ironing out differences

Despite a direction from Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, both the government and Opposition are yet iron out the differences over the suspension of 12 MPs from the Opposition side. While the Opposition says the Centre hasn’t made any proposals yet to even a start discussions, the government and the BJP maintain that MPs can enter House only after placing an unconditional apology. This stand-off is likely to continue even after two weeks of beginning the Winter session of Parliament.

The High Court and Supreme Court Judges Salaries Amendment Bill, passed in Lok Sabha, is listed for Monday in Rajya Sabha. The Upper House transacted business for 14 hours 57 minutes out of the scheduled sitting time of 28 hours 30 minutes during the second week. The upper House lost 28 hours 03 minutes due to disruptions and adjournments.

Meanwhile, the farmers’ issue is likely to come up again in Parliament. BJP MP Varun Gandhi has moved a private Bill to legalise MSP.

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