Parliament passes five bills during monsoon session; opposition protests force several adjournments

Five Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament in the monsoon session of Parliament which concluded on Monday ahead of schedule with the session seeing repeated adjournments on various issues due to opposition protests on a range of issues including price rise.

Five Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament in the monsoon session of Parliament which concluded on Monday ahead of schedule with the session seeing repeated adjournments on various issues due to opposition protests on a range of issues including price rise. The Lok Sabha passed seven bills and six legislations were introduced in the House.

Four bills were passed in Rajya Sabha. The government withdrew the Data Protection Bill, 2019 and has decided to come up with comprehensive legislation. The two Houses were adjourned sine die on Monday, four days before the scheduled end of the session.

In his valedictory remarks, outgoing Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu said more than 47 Hours were lost due to interruptions, "which is a sad reflection on the functioning of the Upper House of Parliament". The two Houses had 16 sittings over 22 days since the session commenced on July 18. The session saw the election of a new President and Vice President.

The Lok Sabha met for 44 hours and twenty-nine minutes during the session. The Lok Sabha passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021, the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021, the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022

The Rajya Sabha passed the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, the National Anti-Doping Bill, 2021, the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022 The opposition forced several adjournments in the House over its demand for an immediate debate on price rise and withdrawal of GST on some items of daily use.

Congress also protested the ED searches in the National Herald case accusing the government of misusing central agencies. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remarks on President Droupadi Murmu, for which he later apologised, also caused disruptions in the two Houses. Rajya Sabha met for over 35 hours during the session.

The debate on price rise took place after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovered from COVID-19. She replied to the debate in the two Houses and rubbished allegations of Congress. The short-duration discussion on price rise lasted for more than four hours in Rajya Sabha and 33 members participated.

Rajya Sabha members on Monday accorded a warm farewell to Venkaiah Naidu whose term is ending on August 10. In his valedictory remarks, Naidu said the session was characterized by regular and continuous disruptions, "which deprived Members of the opportunity to discuss matters of urgent public importance and seek the accountability of the Executive through questions"

"Out of the 235 Starred Questions admitted, only 61 could be answered orally and Question Hour could not be taken up on seven days. Only 25 matters could be raised by Members with the permission of the Chair and only 60 Special Mentions could be made, during the entire session," he said. . "Only four Government Bills were considered and passed during the Session. 27 Private Members' Bills were also introduced and only 1 Private Member's Bill regarding 'Right to Health' could be partly discussed during the entire Session. No Private Members' Resolutions could be taken up," he added.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and leaders of various parties and groups and members for offering their good wishes on completion of his tenure as the Chairman. Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw moved the motion for withdrawal of the Data Protection Bill in Lok Sabha last week.

"The Data Protection Bill 2021 as reported by the Joint Committee may be withdrawn," he said. The House adopted the motion. The minister later said that Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was deliberated in great detail by the Joint Committee of Parliament and 81 amendments were proposed and 12 recommendations were made towards a comprehensive legal framework on the digital ecosystem.

The 2019 bill sought to bring a strong and robust data protection framework for India and to set up an Authority for protecting personal data and empowering the citizens' with rights relating to their personal data ensuring their fundamental right to "privacy and protection of personal data". The bill was sent to a Joint Committee of Parliament which gave its report on December 16, 2021. Members of both the Houses of Parliament gave a farewell to the outgoing President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, in the Central Hall of Parliament House on 23 July 2022. (ANI)

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