Parliament Winter Session 2021

Date

Role of the Parliament

The Parliament is responsible for passing the bills and making laws for the functioning of the country. This process is carried out by discussions and debates within the procedures of the parliament session. The summoning of the Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Indian Constitution. The power to convene a session of the Parliament rests with the government.  The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which is formalised by the President. However, India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. But, by convention, Parliament meets thrice a year as mentioned below.

Sessions of Parliament

  •  Budget Session: Longest session, starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April. It is of the longest duration. The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
  • Monsoon Session: Second session, usually spans for three-week, beginning in July and finishing in August.
  • Winter Session: Third session, held from November to December.

Devices of Parliamentary Proceedings

The first hour of every parliamentary sitting, as mentioned in the rules of procedure of the house is termed as Question Hour. During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers. Immediately after the question hour, Zero Hour takes place which lasts until the agenda for the day is taken up. Under this, the Members of Parliament (MPs) can raise matters without any prior notice.

Parliament Session 2021

The winter session of the Parliament 2021, which began on 29 November, concluded on 22nd December, a day ahead of scheduled closure as both houses adjourned sine die. This was the fifth time in a row when the Parliament session was adjourned sine die ahead of the schedule. All three sessions of 2021 faced early closure due to the prevailing Covid-19. The total productivity registered in Lok Sabha was 82% while for Rajya Sabha it was  47% this year. 

This year the session began with the bills to repeal farm laws, cryptocurrency bills and private data protection bills as the core of the opening agenda. Further, the central government scheduled to introduce 6 new bills for consideration, which included the following -increasing the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, National Anti-Doping Bill, Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill; Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill and the Mediation Bill. 

The proceedings began with bills like the mediation bill that were sent to a standing committee. Then the biodiversity bill was moved in the locksmith and sent to a joint select committee of the two houses of Parliament. Then the Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment bill which seeks to increase the marriage age from 18 years to 21 years, has also been introduced in the looks of Understanding Committee. The Narcotic Drug and Psychotropic Substances Amendment Bill were also moved and passed in both offices of Parliament.

A couple of bills were not which were expected but were not brought in the session of Parliament. One is the cryptocurrency and regulation of official digital currency bill. There was a lot of discussion on this bill and how the government regulates the central bank digital currency and deals with this whole issue of cryptocurrencies. The government decided it needs more discussion before a bill is brought to Parliament. The Electricity Amendment Bill was dropped since the government had promised the educating farmers that it will not bring this bill because they had objections to certain clauses in the bill.

The Personal Data Protection Bill was finally submitted to Parliament and part of the government finally decided to keep it for the next session. 

The government had also dropped the electricity amendment bill to meet the demand of the agitating farmers. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment bill, which has been sent to a standing committee, has also gained prominence with some other party leaders opposing it. 

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill which got the approval of Rajya Sabha on 20th December, seeks to link the Aadhar Card with their voter cards for the purpose of establishing identity.

Just like any other session this session, too, witnessed constant disruptions and opposition staging protests against the suspension of 12 MPs.