The Budget session of the Rajya Sabha registered a productivity of 99.80 per cent, missing the 100 per cent landmark by just 10 minutes.
This is the Upper House's third best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017.
Giving these details after the House was adjourned sine die on Thursday, officials said as against the scheduled 29 sittings, the House held 27 sittings that included 10 during the first part of the Budget Session and 17 during the second part. Two sittings were given up ahead of Holi and Ram Navami on the suggestions from leaders of various parties in the House.
The Budget session started on a positive note, witnessing no disruptions and forced adjournments during the first 12 full sittings, which is the best such stretch in about last three years, a statement by the Rajya Sabha secretariat said.
During this session, the Upper House passed 11 Bills including six on Appropriation and Finance Bills that were returned. One Bill, the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022 was introduced in the House on Thursday.
The House witnessed forced adjournments on six days, all during the second part of the Session, but members sat beyond the scheduled hours on 11 days, the officials said, adding that in all, 21 of the 27 sittings were free of forced adjournments.
Moreover, as against the scheduled sitting time of 127 hours 54 minutes, the House functioned for 127 hours 44 minutes, officials said, adding that the productivity of the House would have been 100 percent but for the loss of these 10 minutes.
While functional time of 9 hours 26 minutes was lost to disruptions and forced adjournments, the House gained 9 hours 16 minutes with members sitting beyond the scheduled hours.
They discussed the ministries of Railways, Development of North-Eastern Region, Tribal Affairs and Labour and Employment for a total time of 22 hours 34 minutes. This was the best performance in this regard in the last 12 years, after five ministries were discussed in 2010, the officials claimed.Of the total functional time, 37 per cent was spent on debates on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Union Budget for 2022-23 and the working of four ministries.