Amid Opposition protests, Lok Sabha adjourns sine die ahead of schedule date

The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, bringing an end to the Winter Session of Parliament that saw opposition protests on issues such as price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The Winter Session of Parliament, which had begun on November 29, was scheduled to end on Thursday.

During the session, the House saw the passage of nine bills which included the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill and legislations to fix the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI at five years and supplementary demands for grants.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out the valedictory remarks as soon as the House assembled for the day.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among those present in the House on the last day of the Winter Session.

Floor leaders of political parties met the Speaker in his chamber after the House was adjourned sine die.

The Lok Sabha had 18 sittings during the Session which lasted for 83 hours and 12 minutes Debates on COVID-19 and climate change were held during the session lasting 12 hours 26 minutes and six hours and 26 minutes respectively. While 99 members participated in the debate on the pandemic, the discussion on climate change, which remained inconclusive, saw the participation of 61 members.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said the House lost 18 hours and 48 minutes to disruptions, but saw productivity zoom to 204 per cent on December 2, when the issue of pandemic was taken up for discussion.

The overall productivity of the Lok Sabha was 82 per cent, Birla said.

The government 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.