Lok Sabha passed 25 bills and 16 were reintroduced as the government had laid out its agenda of getting the bills cleared, many of them ordinances.
While 37 hours were scheduled in the 10 sittings that took place in 10 days without a single break, the House worked for over 60 hours, including weekends. While 68% of the time was for legislative business, the remaining was used for Zero Hour and debates.
Speaker O P Birla said, “This session was being held under unprecedented times, am glad that all members rose to the occasion and placed their duties as public representatives on their topmost priority.”
In Zero Hour, 370 MPs raised issues, including 88 who spoke on September 20 when the House went past midnight. As many as 181 issues of public importance were raised via Rule 377 and 855 papers tabled by ministers. Out of 78 women MPs, 60 spoke during the 10 day proceedings. Besides, 2,300 unstarred questions were answered by the government.
“You have become the hero of the Zero Hour”, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told Birla while appreciating him for conducting proceedings of the House during the challenging time of Covid-19 pandemic.
As the session was shortened due to the pandemic, private member business was skipped. Therefore, no private member bill was introduced or discussed.
Several important bills were passed in the monsoon of the parliament this year. Some of them include the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment And Protection) Agreement On Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and the Amendment to 1955 Essential Commodities Bill, The FCRA Amendment Bill, Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, and three labour code bills—The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, The Code On Social Security, and The Industrial Relations Code.