Centre slams Opposition for disrupting Winter session of Parliament

New Delhi [India], December 22 : The Centre on Wednesday launched an attack on the Opposition for disrupting proceedings of Parliament during the Winter Session that culminated today, a day ahead of its scheduled time.
Speaking on behalf of the Centre, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi slammed the Opposition for their actions to continue disrupting the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament-- the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha-- during the entire session that provided 18 sittings spread over a period of 24 days.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also took a dig at Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien who threw Rajya Sabha rule book on reporters' tables during a discussion on the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Joshi's remarks came while briefing a press conference, saying it seems the Opposition is "unable to digest" the mandate given by the people of the country to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Minister was speaking to media soon after the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die, bringing an end to the session that witnessed the Opposition members protesting on various issues that included suspension of 12 MPs, price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that occurred in the first week of October involving Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra as one of the accused.
The Minister also mentioned, "it is unfortunate that despite our efforts and reaching out to the Opposition, they created ruckus in the House".
"It seems that Congress and other Opposition parties are unable to digest the mandate of 2019 given by the people," Joshi said.
The Minister also informed that the government has referred six bills to parliamentary committees for greater scrutiny, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to override personal laws of different religions.
Rejecting the Opposition's allegation that adequate time was not allotted to them for studying the Bills introduced in both the Houses, particularly the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, the Minister said it is "baseless".
"The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was circulated among members a day advance to prepare for the debate," Joshi said.
Clarifying the allegation, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said "both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were allowed to speak in Zero Hour without any prior notice, so it is just a baseless allegation that Opposition leaders are not allowed to speak".
Adding on it, Pralhad Joshi said, "it is also important to be on the designated seat allotted to any member when he wants to speak but the Opposition remained in the Well of the House and disrupted the proceedings."
Joshi also informed that the productivity of Lok Sabha was approximately 82 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha was approximately 48 per cent.
The Minister said the Winter Session, 2021 of Parliament which commenced on November 29 and was scheduled to adjourn on December 23 has been adjourned Sine Die today (Wednesday).
He said the session was curtailed one day earlier than scheduled on completion of essential government business.
The session provided 18 sittings spread over a period of 24 days, said Joshi, adding 13 Bills (12 Bills in Lok Sabha and one Bill in Rajya Sabha) were introduced during the session and 11 Bills were passed by both the Houses of Parliament.
"The passed Bills include the Appropriation Bill relating to the Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2021-22 which was passed by Lok Sabha, transmitted to Rajya Sabha and will be deemed to have been passed by both Houses after the expiry of 14 days under Article 109(5)", the Minister said.
Three Bills replacing the Ordinances, namely, the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (9 of 2021), the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (10 of 2021) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Ordinance 2021(8 of 2021) which were promulgated by the President before Winter Session, 2021 were considered and passed by the Houses.
One Bill namely the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was referred to the
Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament.
Some of the other important Bills including three ordinances replacing Bills passed by Houses of Parliament are the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021; the Dam Safety Bill, 2021; the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulations) Bill, 2021; the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2021; the National Institute of Phar Bill, 2021; the High Court and Supreme Court Amendment Bill, 2021; the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021; the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021; and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Two Short Duration discussions under Rule 193 were also held in Lok Sabha on the COVID-19 pandemic and various aspects related to it, and Climate Change.
In Rajya Sabha, the Minister said one discussion on the situation arising out of cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 virus in the country was held.
Joshi stressed that the Opposition did not participate in any of the Short Duration discussions despite they themselves having demanded it in an all-party meeting and the first priority was given to the price rise discussion.