Parliament Diary

Rajya Sabha discussed the Prohibition of E-Cigarettes Bill. The Health Minister replied to the debate and remarked that it was important to ban e-cigarettes before it reached a larger consumer base and wide social acceptance. He further added that the ban on e-cigarettes demonstrated India’s willingness to anticipate challenges in tobacco control and make timely interventions. The Bill was later passed. 

In Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister responded to a question on the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank during Question Hour. She said 78% of all depositors of the bank could withdraw their entire account balance. She also mentioned that a hardship allowance could be invoked which would allow depositors to withdraw up to a lakh of rupees. 

Lok Sabha took up the Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 for discussion and passing. The Bill provides domestic companies and new domestic manufacturing companies an option to opt for a lower tax rate, provided they forego certain other deductions. The Bill was passed.

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha drew attention of the House to the escalating violence against women and called for stringent punishment for offenders and fast-track hearing of the case. Rajya Sabha Chairman Mr. Venkaiah Naidu later spoke about the need for police reforms, awareness and education. 

As the winter session hit the halfway mark on Friday (Nov 29), the productivity of Lok Sabha stood at 99% and Rajya Sabha at 82%. Lok Sabha functioned for a total of 59.4 hours and Rajya Sabha for a total of 48.1 hours. Productivity shows the actual hours of work done by Parliament as compared to scheduled hours. 

In the first ten days of the Session, nine new Bills were introduced and nine Bills are pending with the Surrogacy Bill getting referred to a Select Committee. 

For a detailed breakup on productivity and breakup of business, refer to our Session Track.