New Delhi: Parliament’s Monsoon session, which concluded Thursday, saw frequent disruptions that overshadowed legislative business, with the House losing over 84 hours to forced adjournments, the highest in the 18th Lok Sabha.
The month-long session that started July 21 had 21 sittings with 37 hours and 7 minutes of effective business, according to the Lok Sabha secretariat.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that all parties had decided at the beginning of the session that discussions would be held for 120 hours in this session.
“The Business Advisory Committee also agreed to this. But due to continuous deadlock and planned disruptions, we could barely work for 37 hours in this session,” he underlined.
Despite the disruptions, the government managed to introduce 14 Bills and secure passage of 12 key legislation, including the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025, and the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters after the conclusion of the session that it was successful and fruitful for the country and the government, but unsuccessful and harmful for the Opposition.
Among the Bills introduced were the three seeking the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested for 30 days on serious criminal charges, which were introduced Wednesday by Home Minister Amit Shah, triggering acrimonious scenes in the Lok Sabha.
While legislative business progressed, private members’ Bills saw no traction, with none introduced, discussed or passed during the session.
The session also recorded 537 matters raised under Rule 377, including matters of urgent public importance.
However, none of the 61 notices received for discussions on matters of public interest were admitted.
Parliamentary oversight remained active with committees presenting a total of 124 reports, including 89 by departmentally related standing committees and 18 by financial committees. Ministers made 53 statements on various issues during the session.
In the Question Hour, 419 starred questions were admitted, but only 55 were answered orally. Meanwhile, 4,829 unstarred questions were admitted.
PTI
