Staff Reporter
The second part of the Budget Session of Parliament will begin from tomorrow. During the second part of the session, which is scheduled to conclude on the 8th of next month, there will be 19 sittings and the Parliament is also set to return to its normal functioning schedule. Both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will sit from 11 AM to 6 PM. The decision has been taken in the wake of the decline in COVID-19 cases in the country.
In view of the third wave of the pandemic, the two Houses worked in shifts in the first phase. Both the Houses will continue to use their chambers and galleries during the second leg of the Budget Session. This time, the Rajya Sabha will get 19 hours of additional business time over the earlier schedule. The Budget session of Parliament resumes after a month-long recess during which the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committees examined the Demands for Grants of various ministries and departments.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu is likely to give an account of the working of the 8 Standing Committees of Rajya Sabha in the House on Monday. Several important bills are likely to be taken up during the second phase of the budget session of Parliament. These include Finance Bill 2022, Competition Amendment Bill, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Amendment Bill, National Dental Commission Bill, Energy Conservation Amendment Bill 2022.
The budget session of Parliament began on 31st January with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address. The first phase of the Parliament session lasted till 11th February and a total of 10 sittings were held during this period. During the first phase, discussions were held on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address and the Union Budget 2022-23. The work productivity of Rajya Sabha was more than 101 percent during the session, while the productivity of Lok Sabha was recorded at 121 percent.