Accusing the Congress of obstructing the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Government on Thursday hoped that the Opposition party would do a re-think on its stand by the Budget session, beginning January 29. The Government said it was committed to the Supreme Court’s order on triple talaq.
Addressing newspersons after the conclusion of the 14-day winter session of the Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the short-session was “highly successful” with both the houses passing 22 bills - 13 in Lok Sabha and nine in Rajya Sabha. The productivity of the Lok Sabha was 91.58 per cent while the Rajya Sabha with all road-blocks put by the opposition worked at 56.29 percent, the Minister said.
“In a way this session was landmark... 13 bills were passed in the Lok Sabha and nine in the Rajya Sabha during the 13 working days of the Winter Session,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said.During the session, 17 bills were introduced and 12 bills were passed by both the Houses.
“I am grateful to all the parties and all members of both the houses for making this session fruitful,” Kumar said.
Asked how could he say that the session was successful when two key bills related to Triple Talq and Backward Classes failed to find passage in the Rajya Sabha, Kumar said it was the “double stands” of the Congress which led to such a situation. He said Congress backed the bill on talaq in the Lok Sabha but blocked it in the Rajya Sabha .
Kumar said the cabinet committee on Parliamentary affairs met under the Chairmanship of Home Minister Rajnath Singh and finalized the dates for the budget session. From January 29 to February 9 would be the first phase before the recess which would stretch from February 10 to March 5 when various standing committees would have their meetings. Parliament will meet again from March 5 to April 6, Kumar said.
The Union Budget will be presented on February 1. President Ramnath Kovind will address the joint sitting of the two Houses on January 29 and the Economic Survey will be tabled on the same day.
The winter session, which started on December 15 and concluded on January 5, had 13 sittings spread over a period of 22 days. Both the Houses were adjourned sine die on Friday.
Ahead of adjourning the House sine die at 1 PM in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said the session had its highs and lows, but lamented that it ended up losing some degree of esteem on account of disruptions.
“It is unfortunate that despite discharging its responsibilities to a great extent, the august House ends up losing some degree of the esteem of the people”, he said. on account of disruptions and substantial loss of functional time”, he said.