By IANS,
New Delhi : The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die Thursday bringing an end to a stormy winter session – half of which was lost to protests – during which the government passed some key bills including the anti-graft Lokpal legislation.
Speaker Meira Kumar lamented that no private member business could be taken up due to “forced adjournments”.
“In this session, the house sat late for 22 hours and 12 minutes. But regrettably we lost over 76 hours of time due to interruptions followed by forced adjournments,” she said in her valedictory address.
The session witnessed stalling of the house for nearly two weeks over various issues including foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail and the opposition demand for an adjournment motion on the issue of price rise which was later accepted on a mutually acceptable wording.
The session, which was extended by three days from original 21, saw noisy protests over various issues due to which nearly half of the proposed sitting hours were lost.
Some 27 bills were introduced and 18 passed in the lower house. These include the legislations on Lokpal, whistleblowers, insurance and the Prasar Bharati amendment bill, according to the Lok Sabha secretariat.
The session that started Nov 22 saw the government battling severe criticism not only from the opposition but also from ruling partners due to which it had to put on pause a key reform decision on allowing foreign equity in Indian retailing.
The government also faced embarrassment in the Lok Sabha when a constitutional amendment that would have given constitutional status to the proposed ombudsman was defeated.
Of the total 400 questions listed, only 41 were answered orally during the session.