Parl session closes with over 100% productivity

New Delhi: The budget session of Parliament, which ended on Friday, turned out to be one of the most productive in the recent past, cleared landmark bills and transacted business till the early hours of the morning, but failed to take up any Opposition-sponsored debates.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced the Lower House recorded 118% productivity or utilisation of time. The Rajya Sabha’s productivity stood at 119%. Both Houses worked overtime, especially to debate the Waqf (amendment) bill and the imposition of President's rule in Manipur, bringing back the rich tradition of marathon debates in Parliament.

The Lok Sabha discussed the amendments to the central waqf law for 13.53 hours, passing the bill after 2 am. The Rajya Sabha spent 12.49 hours on the bill and approved it around 2.30 am. In a rare display of parliamentary adherence, both Houses took up the debate on President’s Rule in Manipur well past midnight, something that has not happened in decades.

The session, which started with President Droupadi Murmu’s speech on January 31, came to an end after clearing 10 bills by both Houses. In contrast, the winter session of 2024 clocked 52% and 39% productivity in the Lower and Upper House, respectively, and could clear just one bill for enactment.

In his valedictory speech, Birla announced that the Lower House held 26 sittings during the session and worked for 160 hours 48 minutes. The Rajya Sabha spent 159 hours.

Even as the House witnessed marathon debates on the President’s address to the joint sitting, the budget, and the waqf bill, the government continued to refuse any discussion on Opposition’s pet topics. The Opposition demanded a debate on the Electoral Photo Identity Card. Dozens of notices for adjournment motion by opposition leaders were also ignored, limiting the scope of the debate in the House primarily on government business.

The session faced some initial turbulence as Opposition parties disrupted proceedings over their demand to debate duplication of EPIC numbers, resulting in the loss of 21.15 hours in the Lok Sabha. But Parliament sat overtime to make up for the lost time.

Birla announced that a total of 169 MPs participated in debates. Ten government bills were introduced in the Lower House and 16 bills were passed.

Some of the important bills passed during the session include The Finance Bill, 2025, The Appropriation Bill, 2025, The “Tribhuvan” Sahkari University Bill, 2025, The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025.

“During the Session, 134 starred questions were answered orally. A total of 691 matters of public importance were raised by members during Zero Hour and on 3 April, 2025, a record number of 202 matters of public importance were raised. A total of 566 matters were taken up under Rule 377 during the Session,” Birla said.

61 reports were presented by departmentally related standing committees and as many as 2518 papers were laid on the table of the House.

In his valedictory speech, Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “The debate and discourse were exemplified by enlightened inputs and varying opinion shades. After a long gap, the House witnessed welcome wit, humour, sarcasm and repartee, apart from intellectual fusion while ensuring parliamentary decorum, cross-party collaboration, and legislative rigour.”

“This session will be remembered for its historic legislative accomplishments and the spirit of unity that prevailed. It stands as a defining moment in India’s parliamentary journey — a powerful reminder of what can be achieved through dialogue, perseverance, and shared purpose. The Rajya Sabha has, once again, set the democratic standards worth emulation by others,” he said.

Union minister for parliamentary affairs and minority affairs Kiren Rijiju said that waqf bill debate lasted for a total of 17 hours and two minutes, setting a new record in Rajya Sabha proceedings.

“One important milestone that we have achieved in Rajya Sabha... Yesterday, in the Rajya Sabha, we created a new record. The earlier record was in 1981 when Parliament discussed the Essential Service Maintenance Act... We created a new record - we discussed for 17 hours and 2 minutes in Rajya Sabha (over the Waqf Amendment Bill and Manipur resolution). It seems extremely difficult to break this record... There was not a single disruption during the discussion over the waqf amendment bill,” Rijiju said.

He also responded to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s comments regarding the passage of the bill, where she referred to the process as forceful and bulldozed.

“Sonia Gandhi is a senior leader; I don’t want to comment on her. Yesterday, during the parliamentary party meeting of Congress, a statement was released that the bill was passed forcefully and bulldozed the procedures. I just clarified and stated the amount of effort that has been put into that. We created a record of the discussion. There has never been this much discussion in the parliamentary history,” Rijiju added.