New Delhi: Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die late on Wednesday after passing the historic Constitution Amendment Bill to provide 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker section in general category. The Winter Session, which began on 11 December, witnessed several hours of disruptions on various issues ranging from the Rafale jet controversy, agrarian crisis to Cauvery river issue. [caption id=“attachment_4277349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The Rajya Sabha was originally scheduled to adjourn on Tuesday. However, the session was extended for a day to take up the Constitutional (124th) Amendment Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Vice Chairman Harivansh regretted that 78 hours of business were lost due to disruptions and that the House functioned for only 27 hours. A total of five bills were introduced and four were passed. “Out of the 285 starred questions admitted, only 31 could be answered orally and others could not be addressed. Only 38 matters could be raised by the members,” he said, adding that just nine special mentions were made in the entire Winter Session of the Parliament in the house. “This is the sad reflection of the functioning of the Upper House,” he said, adding that the House saw continuous disruptions of the proceedings and members could not raise matters of urgent public importance. Members were deprived from listing statements from the Home Minister on the devastation caused by cyclones and Gaza, he added. The House paid obituaries to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Parliamentary Affairs and Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar, among others. Parliament is again scheduled to meet on 31 January for the Budget session, which is expected to be the last of the current government. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to present his sixth and the present government’s last budget, which will be an interim budget ahead of the general election scheduled in April-May.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die late on Wednesday after passing the historic Constitution Amendment Bill to provide 10 percent reservation to the economically weaker section in general category.
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