Lok Sabha adjourned sine die, 16 bills passed

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday adjourned the House sine die at the conclusion of its winter session during which 16 bills were passed, including the triple talaq Bill and a constitutional amendment Bill to give 10 per cent reservation for economically backward among the upper castes in jobs and higher education.

Mahajan said the House had 17 sittings during the session which began on December 11 and had productive discussion of over 48 hours on important issues.

She said a total of 12 government bills were tabled in the session and 16 bills passed including Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, Consumer Protection Bill, National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities (Amendment) Bill, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights) Bill, Companies (Amendment Bill), The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and Personal Laws (Amendment Bill).

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed before the adjournment after a division with 323 members voting in its favour and three against.

Mahajan said the session witnessed a discussion on Rafale that lasted 8 hours 21 minutes and which concluded by the Defence Minister's response.

"Another discussion on natural calamities in various parts of the country could not be completed," she said.

A total of 1,870 papers were tabled by ministers during the session, she said.

Mahajan said while the House witnessed constructive discussion on important issues, 50 members who disrupted the proceedings were named and suspended for the rest of the sittings.

She said a lot of value to the discussion was added by some members including Nationalist Congress Party's Supriya Sule, Congress' Sushmita Dev, BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi, and Revolutionary Socialist Party's N.K. Premachandran.