1.
The Winter Session, 2003 of Parliament which commenced on
Tuesday, the 2nd of December is scheduled to conclude today, the 23rd
of December, 2003. The Session provided
16 sittings of both Houses of Parliament spread over a period of 22 days. This
was the smallest Winter Session in recent years.
2.
A statement containing "Facts at Glance" regarding
work done during the Winter Session, 2003 vis-ŕ-vis work done during the Winter
Sessions held during the last four years is enclosed (Annex
I). From this statement, it can be seen that, in spite of being the
smallest of all in terms of number of sittings, the Government Business
transacted during the Winter Session,
2003, particularly in terms of number of bills passed by both Houses of
Parliament, was more than the Government Business transacted during Winter
Sessions held during the years 1999, 2000, and 2001.
3.
During the Session, two Houses of Parliament passed two
Constitution (Amendment) Bills of great significance and historical importance,
namely, the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Bill, 2003 and the
Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003. The Constitution
(Ninety-seventh Amendment) Bill, 2003 restricts the size of the Council of
Ministers at the Centre and in States. The Bill also does away with the concept
of split from anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule to the Constitution) and also
provides that a person disqualified under the anti-defection law shall not be
appointed as a Minister nor hold any remunerative political post. The
Constitution (One-hundredth Amendment) Bill, 2003, provides for inclusion of
Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali languages in the Eighth Schedule to the
Constitution.
4. Another highlight of the Session was passing
by two Houses of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which inter alia
provides for dual citizenship and a number of other important Bills relating to Socio-economic and electoral reforms, e.g., the Prevention of
Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, the Industrial Development Bank (Transfer of
Undertaking and Repeal) Bill, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, the
Representation of People (Second Amendment) Bill, the Delimitation (Amendment)
Bill, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, etc. On the whole, during the Session,
18 Bills were introduced in the Lok
Sabha (Annex II) and 9 Bills in the Rajya Sabha (Annex III). Lok Sabha passed 21 Bills (Annex IV) and Rajya Sabha passed 20 Bills (Annex V).
Total number of Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament during the Session is
21 (Annex VI) which is more than the achievement of
even the preceding Monsoon Session during which 13 bills were passed by both
the Houses during a total of 21
sittings.
5. Five Short Duration Discussions under Rule
193, namely (i) violence in Assam and some other parts of the country due to
Recruitment Policy of the Railways; (ii) PM's statement regarding resignation
of Minister of State for Environment and Forest; (iii) stamp paper scam; (iv)
action taken report on JPC on Stock Market Scam; and (v) unemployment, were discussed
in the Lok Sabha. In the Rajya Sabha
also, Five Short Duration Discussions under Rule 176, namely (i) PM's statement
regarding resignation by former Minister of State for Environment and Forests;
(ii) situation in Assam and Bihar due to Railway recruitment policy; (iii) fake
stamp paper scam; (iv) implementation of Conditional Access System (CAS); and
(v) unemployment problem in the country, were discussed during the Session.
Annex I
FACTS AT GLANCE– WINTER SESSION, 2003 VIS-A-VIS
WINTER SESSIONS HELD DURING 1999-2003
14th Session of Thirteenth Lok
Sabha and 200th Session of Rajya Sabha
(2.12.2003 to 23.12.2003)
|
Sl.No. |
|
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
1. |
Number Days |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
25 |
33 |
31 |
33 |
22 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
25 |
33 |
31 |
33 |
22 |
2. |
Number of Sittings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
19 |
25 |
21 |
23 |
16 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
19 |
25 |
21 |
23 |
16 |
3. |
Actual Number of Working Hours |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
123-30 |
111-22 |
79-37 |
158-38 |
94.21 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
105-06 |
81-04 |
74-23 |
111-03 |
69.15 |
4. |
Total time lost due to Adjournment on account of interruption |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
14.40 |
59.49 |
29.33 |
00.27 |
6.45 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
6.56 |
39.13 |
22.47 |
-- |
8.48 |
5. |
Percentage of time lost with reference to actual workings hours(Rounded off to nearest whole number) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
12 |
54 |
37 |
00.28 |
7 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
7 |
49 |
31 |
00.00 |
12 |
6. |
Bills Introduced |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
14 |
20 |
10 |
17 |
18 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
18 |
08 |
09 |
03 |
09 |
7. |
Bills passed |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
21 |
17 |
11 |
37 |
21 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
21 |
16 |
11 |
35 |
20 |
|
|
Bills passed by both Houses |
19 |
16 |
06+4* |
42 |
21 |
8. |
Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) Under Rule 193 of Lok Sabha |
05 |
02 |
04 |
05 |
05 |
|
|
(b) Under Rule 176 of Rajya Sabha |
05 |
01 |
04 |
06 |
05 |
|
|
(c) Under Rule 170 in Rajya Sabha |
-- |
01 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
|
(d) Under Rule 184 in Lok Sabha |
-- |
01 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
9. |
Discussion on the Official Motions/Resolution |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
04 |
04 |
06 |
05 |
03 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
02 |
03 |
02 |
01 |
02 |
10. |
Discussion on the Adjournment Motion (Lok Sabha) |
- |
- |
- |
02 (Negatived) |
- |
11. |
Number of Half-an-Hour Discussion |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
05 |
02 |
-- |
02 |
01 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
03 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
12. |
Number of Calling Attentions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
05 |
05 |
02 |
07 |
06 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
04 |
04 |
01 |
05 |
01 |
13. |
Parliament Questions Admitted |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lok Sabha |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) Starred |
359 |
320 |
420 |
461 |
320 |
|
|
(b) Unstarred |
3777 |
5454 |
4675 |
5089 |
3168 |
|
|
(c) Short Notice |
02 |
02(Laid) |
-- |
02 |
02 |
|
|
Rajya Sabha |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(a) Starred |
380 |
497 |
420 |
460 |
320 |
|
|
(b) Unstarred |
2453 |
3757 |
3180 |
3270 |
2317 |
|
|
(c) Short Notice |
01 |
-- |
-- |