New Delhi: The Winter Session of Parliament concluded on December 23. It was the last Parliament session of year 2015.
In terms of passage of laegislations and meaningful discussions, this session was a ‘virtual washout' because the Congress-led opposition did not allow Rajya Sabha to function properly with daily disruptions becoming a norm in the Upper House.
The much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill could not be passed in this session as well which has made its proposed implementation from 1 April, 2016 almost an impossibility.
This is because even if the bill is passed early in the Budget session, it would need to be ratified by 50 percent of state legislatures and after than 3 more amendments would require to be passed before its actual implementation. Obviously, 1 April, 2016 no longer seems a feasible date for its roll out.
The passage of amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act lowering the age limit from 18 to 16 for being prosecuted as an adult in cases involving heinous crimes was the only silver lining in the session.
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In fact, the Rajya Sabha was forced to pass this bill because of the huge public pressure and the lead taken by the parents of Jyoti Singh who was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in Delhi on 16 December 2012. The release of one of the convicts who was under 18 at the time of the crime led to a massive protest across India and it forced the Upper House to pass the amendment lowering the prosecutable age. The Bill had already been passed by the Lok Sabha earlier.
In terms of productivity, Lok Sabha scored hugely over Rajya Sabha and it was mainly on account of political composition of the two houses. Narendra Modi-led NDA has a clear majority in Lok Sabha while the Congress-led opposition has the upper hand in the Upper House.
Lok Sabha registered 102% productivity while Rajya Sabha fared poorly with only 50 % productivity, according to data released by PRS Legislative Research.
In fact, for last 4 sessions of Parliament, Lok Sabha's productivity has been considerably higher than the Rajya Sabha.
Even in terms of functioning of the Question Hour, Lok Sabha left Rajya Sabha far behind. Question hour functioned for 87 % of its scheduled time in Lok Sabha while the percentage for the Rajya Sabha stood at a disappointing 14%.
Overall, 8 bills were introduced and 8 bills were passed by both houses during the Session.
Since Lok Sabha's productivity was higher, it passed another 6 bills. These were related to Indian Trusts, Salaries of High Court and Supreme Court Judges, Carriage by Air, Bureau of Indian Standards, National Waterways and Industries development.
Interestingly, the Rajya Sabha not only spent less time debating bills, it also passed 6 bills without any discussion.
