25 Bills In 10 Days! Monsoon Session 2020 Concludes; RS, LS Adjourned Sine Die In Wake Of COVID-19 Pandemic | HIGHLIGHTS

The Monsoon Session held every year in mid-July was delayed this year due to the COVID019 outbreak in the country. It commenced on September 14 this year and concluded within 10 sittings.

Parliamentarians in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament. (Image: PTI)

The Parliament Monsoon Session scheduled to go on till October 1st, cut short and wrapped up on Wednesday September 23 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, Rajya Sabha as well as Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die. Om Birla, the Speak announced to adjourn the House sine die after the passage of the Major Port Authorities Bill today. The Monsoon Session held every year in mid-July was delayed this year due to the COVID019 outbreak in the country. It commenced on September 14 this year. In a first, the two Houses met at different times in a day to ensure social distancing norms owing to the spread of the Coronavirus. Instead of the 18 sittings, the session wrapped up post 10 sitting that were held between September 14 and 23. However, it is worth mentioning that the Rajya Sabha showed a 100 per cent productivity during the monsoon session as 25 bills were cleared and six others were introduced during one of the shortest Monsoon Session.

Monsoon Session 2020: Key Highlights

7 Bills Passed In 3.5 Hours: Rajya Sabha during the ninth day of the monsoon session passed seven key bills across the spectrums of health, banking, education, commodities, etc in a matter of three and half hours. These included: Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020; Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill; Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill; Companies (Amendment) Bill; Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020; Rashtriya Raksha University Bill; and National Forensic Sciences University Bill. 3 Labour Code Bills: Parliament on the 10th day of the Monsoon Session passed three path breaking Labour Code Bills - Industrial Relations Code, 2020; Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020; Social Security Code, 2020. The Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Gangwar told the Lok Sabha that 29 labour laws are being subsumed in the simplified, easy to understand transparent 4 labour codes. Out of the 4 labour codes, Code on Wages has already been passed by Parliament and have become the law of the land. Farm Bills Passed: The Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. Days after their passage in the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar introduced the bills in the Upper House keeping its stand that the agriculture bills are for the benefit of the farmers. However, the opposition opposed it and accused the government of "running away" from giving legal responsibility for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). K K Ragesh (CPI), Derek O'Brien (TMC), Trichi Siva (DMK), and K C Venugopal (Congress) moved resolutions for sending the two bills to a select committee of the House for consideration before they are taken up for passage. 8 MPs suspended Over Farm Bill Ruckus: A massive protest broke out over the passage of two key agriculture bills. During the Monsoon Session, TMC MP Derek O'Brien entered the well and showed the House rule book to Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and allegedly tore the rule book copy. Marshalls had to be called in to keep the house under control and after a few minutes, the deputy chairman adjourned the house. A day after the ruckus, Rajya Sabha Chairman suspended 8 MPs for a week. These MPs are Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress, Sanjay Singh of Aam Aadmi Party, Rajeev Satav of Congress, KK Ragesh of CPI(M), Ripun Bora of Congress, Dola Sen of Trinamool Congress, Syed Nazir Hussain of Congress, and Elamaran Karim of CPI(M).