Parliament adjourned sine die a day before schedule; Lok Sabha clocks 136 % productivity

Both Houses of Parliament—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha—were adjourned sine die on Friday, a day before the scheduled end of the session.

The Budget session, which started on July 22, was scheduled to end on August 12, but Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House sine die a day before. Earlier in the day, the Rajya Sabha was also adjourned sine die.

During the session, the Finance Bill was passed. A bill to amend the Waqf Amendment law was also introduced and referred to a joint committee of Parliament amid protests over its provisions.

Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju thanked the chairmen of both Houses and said that the Parliament saw very good business transactions in both Houses along with active participation from the members.

"After many years, neither the Budget session nor the entire Parliament session was washed out even for a single day, and we saw very good business transactions in both Houses along with active participation from the members. On behalf of all the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the government, I want to thank the chairpersons of both Houses for their great help in running the Houses," Rijiju said at a press conference.

Lok Sabha speaker, Om Birla informed that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2024-2025 on the floor of the House on July 23. The general discussion on the Union Budget 2024-25 lasted for 27 hours and 19 minutes and 181 Members participated in the discussion. The Finance Minister replied to the discussion on July 30, informed Birla.

Birla further informed that twelve government Bills were introduced and four Bills were passed, during the session. The bills which were passed are as follows: The Finance Bill, 2024, The Appropriation Bill, 2024, The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2024; and The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024.

The Rajya Sabha's day was marred by multiple adjournments due to opposition protests and a walkout by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar.

Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Jaya Bachchan demanded an apology from Dhankar after a heated exchange of words over BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari's remarks against Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adopted a motion naming 31 of its members to be part of a joint committee of the Houses. Om Birla said the productivity of the House was above 130 per cent.

(With ANI inputs)