With a pledge of 'Sankalp se Siddhi' for building a New India by 2022 taken with wide consensus on 75th Anniversary of the 'Quit India Movement' and GST extended to J&K, which will lead to its economic integration with the rest of the country, the monsoon session of the Parliament ended with both houses of Parliament adjourning Sine Die on Friday.
A total 17 Bills were introduced and 14 Bills were passed in this session which had 19 sittings and lasted 71 hours.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan while adjourning the House said nearly 30 hours were wasted due to disruption. She, however, said the House sat over 10 hours extra to discuss matters of public importance.
She said during these period, the House passed Supplementary Demands for Grants (General) and Demands for Excess Grants (General).
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar while addressing the media here on Friday said that the Monsoon Session, 2017 of Parliament which commenced on Monday, the 17th July, 2017, concluded on Friday, the 11th August, 2017. The Session provided 19 sittings spread over a period of 26 days.The productivity of Lok Sabha was 77.94 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha was 79.95 per cent.
During the Session, 17 Bills (17 in the Lok Sabha) were introduced.The Lok Sabha passed 14 Bills and while the Rajya Sabha passed 9 Bills during the session. Total 13 Bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament. Out of these, the five Bills, as passed by Lok Sabha and transmitted to Rajya Sabha for its recommendation, are not likely to be returned to Lok Sabha within the period of fourteen days from the date of their receipt in Rajya Sabha.The Bills are deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of the said period in the form in which they passed by Lok Sabha under clause (5)of article 109 of the Constitution.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that "This has been an achievement considering that it was a short session of Parliament and a considerable time was devoted to discussions on important issues and the Elections to the Offices of President and Vice President of India, Kumar added."
The Minister mentioned about the special discussion held in both Houses on 09.08.2017 to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the 'Quit India Movement' and it is for the first time that the pledge of 'Sankalp se Siddhi' for building a New India by 2022 was taken with wide consensus among all parties. The government is committed to achieve this vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Minister added.
Talking about the extension of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the State of Jammu & Kashmir, Minister Kumar said that this is a historic achievement as passing of the related bills will lead to the Economic Integration of the State with rest of the country.
Regarding the Legislative Business carried out during the Monsoon Session 2017, he said that during the Session Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 (including Railways) and Demands for Excess Grants for 2014-15 and the related Appropriation Bills, were discussed and passed by the Lok Sabha.
These Bills were transmitted to Rajya Sabha on 02.08.2017 and could not be taken up for consideration and as they are not likely to be returned to Lok Sabha within the period of fourteen days from the date of their receipt in Rajya Sabha, the Bills will be deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of the said period in the form in which they were was passed by Lok Sabha under clause (5)of article 109 of the Constitution.
"The Monsoon Session 2017 has been a successful session in terms of the legislative business conducted and wide participation of all political parties in discussions on various issues of national importance," said Minister Ananth Kumar.
Four Bills replacing the Ordinances, namely, the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension to Chandigarh) Amendment Ordinance, 2017, the Central Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Extension to Jammu and Kashmir) Ordinance, 2017 which were promulgated by the President, were considered and passed by Lok Sabha.
Except for the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the Bills replacing the remaining three Ordinances could not be taken up by Rajya Sabha. As these three Bills are money Bills and are not likely to be returned to Lok Sabha within the period of fourteen days from the date of their receipt in Rajya Sabha, the Bills will be deemed to have been passed by both Houses at the expiration of the said period in the form in which they were was passed by Lok Sabha under clause (5)of Article 109 of the Constitution.
In the Lok Sabha, 2 Short Duration Discussions under Rule 193 were held on:
(i) the Agrarian Situation in the Country and
(ii) the situation arising out of Reported Incidents of Atrocities and Lynching in mob violence in the Country.
In the Rajya Sabha, three Short Duration Discussions under Rule 176 were held on
(i) the situation arising out of the reported increase in the incidents of lynching and atrocities on minorities and Dalits across the country;
(ii) on the farmers' distress leading to rising in the incidents of their suicide in the country; and
(iii) India's foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners.
Besides one calling attention motion in Lok Sabha on problems arising due to floods in different parts of the Country and steps taken by the Government in this regard was discussed.
Similarly, in Rajya Sabha two calling attention motions were:
(i) on the situation arising out of recent floods in various parts of the country, particularly in Assam and
(ii) the situation arising out of a violation of prescribed conditions of Letter of Permit by foreign trawlers in deep sea fishing in Indian seas and the action taken by the Government in regard thereto were discussed.
Three old pending Bills were withdrawn in the Rajya Sabha namely:
i) The North-Eastern Council (Amendment) Bill, 2013;
ii) The Architects (Amendment) Bill, 2010; and
iii) The Participation of Workers in Management Bill, 1990.
After the Question Hour and papers were laid the Lok Sabha Speaker adjourned the House Sine Die.
Rajya Sabha also adjourned sine die today. New Chairman Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House after giving his thanks-giving speech on assuming the charge.
Chairman Naidu assured the members that he will try his best to give an opportunity to each and every member saying that government proposes, the opposition opposes and the House disposes.
S S Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Parliamentary Affairs and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of State for Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs, was also present on the occasion.