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New Delhi : The Interim Budget Session 2019 has been a successful session in terms of wide participation of all political parties in discussions on various issues of national importance, said Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, while addressing the media here on February 13, 2019.
Vijay Goel, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation, and Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, were also present on the occasion.
Giving the details for the tenure of 16th Lok Sabha, the Minister informed that for Lok Sabha, number of sittings were 331, 205 bills were passed and the productivity was 85%. For Rajya Sabha, number of sittings were 329, 154 bills were passed and the productivity was 68%.
Tomar informed that the Interim Budget Session, 2019 of Parliament which commenced on January 31, 2019, was adjourned sine die on February 13, 2019. The session provided 10 sittings spread over a period of 14 days. The productivity of Lok Sabha was 89%and that of Rajya Sabha was 8% approximately.
This being the first Session of the year, the President addressed both Houses of Parliament assembled together in terms of Article 87 (1) of the Constitution, on January 31,2019. Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in Lok Sabha was moved by Hukmdev Narayan Yadav and seconded by Jagdambika Pal. This item engaged the Lok Sabha for 11 hrs 16 minutes against allotted 8 hours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to the debate. In Rajya Sabha, it was moved by Bhupendra Yadav, seconded by Vijay Goel and was adopted on February 13, 2019.
The session, being the Budget Session, was mainly devoted to transaction of Financial Business. During the session, the Interim Budget for 2019-20 was presented on February 1, 2019. General discussion on the Interim Budget was held in Lok Sabha. This engaged the Lok Sabha for 7 hours 32 minutes against allotted 8 hours. Due to constant interruptions in the House, the Rajya Sabha could not take up the Interim Budget for discussion.
In Lok Sabha, the Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2019, and the Appropriation Bill relating to Third Supplementary Demands for Grants for the year 2018-19 were introduced, considered and passed on February 11, 2019, while the Finance Bill, 2019 was passed on February 12, 2019. In the Rajya Sabha, these Bills were returned on February 13, 2019.
During this Session, a total of 9 Bills (3 in Lok Sabha and 6 in Rajya Sabha) were introduced. Five Bills were passed by Lok Sabha, 5 Bills were passed by Rajya Sabha and 4Bills were passed by both Houses of Parliament, according to a PIB release.