Winter Session productivity at 82%, but only 99 MPs participated
Synopsis
Meanwhile, the Session was disrupted for 18 hours and 48 minutes by Opposition members on a variety of concerns, including price increases and violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Lok Sabha Om Birla on Wednesday addressed the media and gave an insight about the working of the Winter Session as both houses were adjourned indefinitely, a day ahead of their original schedule. Giving an insight, Om Birla said a total of 99 MPs participated in the 12 hours 26 minutes long discussion on the COVID-19, in which they shared with the House, the best work done in their respective areas during the pandemic. He informed that the productivity of Lok Sabha in this Winter Session was approximately 82 per cent. While 99 members took part in the debate on the pandemic, 61 members took part in the debate on climate change, which was inconclusive.
Meanwhile, the Session was disrupted for 18 hours and 48 minutes by Opposition members on a variety of concerns, including price increases and violence in Lakhimpur Kheri. However, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also highlighted that the Lower House witnessed record productivity of 204 per cent on December 2.
The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, legislation to set the tenure of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI directors at five years, and additional requests grants were all passed by the Lok Sabha.
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The government had introduced 12 bills during the Session, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to increase the marriageable age for girls from 18 years to 21 years. During the 83-hour-and-12-minute Session, the Lok Sabha held 18 sittings.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also spoke about the launch of a new mobile application, 'LS Member App,' which allows voters to track the behaviour of their elected representatives in the parliament session in real time. Speaker Om Birla described the app's features, stating that it is available on the Google Play store and that the public may download it on their smartphones and computers to watch live sessions.