New Delhi: The
Budget session of Parliament that came to an abrupt end on March 23, almost a fortnight before the scheduled time, due to the Corona virus threat saw the government getting the Budget and a few tax-related Bills passed while the Opposition failed to corner it, barring a debate on the Delhi riots.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said a total of 12 Bills were passed by Parliament in this session. These include the budget Appropriations Bills, the Finance Bill, The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill that aims to simplify resolution of tax disputes, budget of Jammu and Kashmir, and an amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
“The first part of the session yielded a total of 9 sittings of Lok Sabha (LS) and Rajya Sabha (RS). In the second part of the session there were 14 sittings of LS and RS. During the entire Budget Session, 2020 there were in total 23 sittings in LS and RS,” Joshi said.
The government did not relent to the Opposition demands for an early debate on the Delhi riots which claimed 52 lives. It waited till the Holi was over on the pretext that holding discussions will flare up passions and may cause more violence. The Opposition demanded Union home minister Amit Shah’s resignation for “failing” to control the riots and alleged that these were a result of inflammatory speeches by BJP leaders. The government stood its ground and said the troublemakers had come from ou ..
While every Parliament session sees the government trying to push its Bills through and the Opposition demanding discussions on key burning issues, the budget session was one where the opposition demanded early end to the session in view of the virus threat. The Narendra Modi government waited till Tuesday—the delay was allegedly due to the developments in Madhya Pradesh where the Assembly had to be kept in session to hold a floor test—before adjourning Parliament.
Some of the other Bills passed include The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that intends to facilitate seamless transfer of all valid rights, approvals, clearances, licences and the like for two years to a new lessee in case of minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals; and the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill that seeks to give them central university status.
The productivity of LS was 90% while that of RS was 74%.
Source:- moneycontrol.com