Overnight protests mark the end of winter session; crucial bills passed

AProductive overwinter session, which had battle of marathon debates on francis scott key topics and musical passage of turning point bills, ended on Friday, but after a rumbustious protest by the Opposition at midnight in the Rajya Sabha to oppose the VB-G Ram G bill.Both Houses of Parliament passed 8 bills including the G Ram G Bill that replaces the flagship MGNREGA and The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025 that allows private enterprises in the sector and dilutes suppliers’ liability.The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025—the legislation to set up a single regulator for higher education has been referred to a joint committee of Parliament while The Securities Markets Code, 2025 would be sent to a standing committee for review. The Union government also imposed cess on Pan Masala and tobacco products by passing Health Security se National Security Cess Bill and amending the central excise bill.The House held marathon debates on 150 years of Vande Mataram and electoral reforms. But parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that the Congress didn’t allow a debate on the pollution. “Three members, Priyanka Gandhi (Congress), K Kanimozhi (DMK) and Bansuri Swaraj (BJP) had given the notice for the discussion but the Congress did not allow the House to take up the discussion,” Rijiju said.Congress leader Jairam Ramesh rejected the allegations and claimed the government was disinterested to debate the raging issue. “It was not a winter session but a session during pollution. The government’s allegations are baseless. The Lok Sabha was adjourned abruptly on Thursday and we couldn’t discuss it.”Ramesh said that last year the government had claimed that pollution doesn’t affect lungs. “We were going to present evidence of what the effect of air pollution is, on lung disease, on lung damage and on mortality, so the government is running away. The government showed an excuse that we are ready, but when the time came for the discussion they adjourned the Lok Sabha indefinitely yesterday and today was going to be the same that happened in the Rajya Sabha,” Ramesh said.In his valedictory speech, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that “15 sittings were held during the Session. The total sitting hours during the Session was 92 hours and 25 minutes And the Productivity of the House was 111%.”“During the Session, 300 starred questions were admitted and 72 starred questions were answered orally. A total number of 3449 unstarred questions were admitted during the Session. A total of 408 matters of urgent public importance were raised by the Members during the Zero Hour and a total of 372 matters were taken up under Rule 377. On 11 December 2025, 150 Members raised their matters during Zero Hour in the House,” Birla said.It was the first session for Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan. In his valedictory speech, Radhakrishnan said, “Overall, the House functioned for a total of about 92 hours. The productivity of this Session stood at 121%. In this Session, we had the opportunity to raise 58 Starred questions, 208 Zero Hour Submissions and 87 Special Mentions.”He added that an average of over 84 notices for Zero Hour were received per day, which is a 31% increase as compared to the preceding two Sessions. Similarly, the numbers of issue raised in Zero Hour saw a 50 % increase as compared to the preceding two Sessions.In Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated a debate on the national song “Vande Mataram”. The debate had 65 participants in the Lok Sabha and 82 in the Rajya Sabha. In the discussion on “Electoral Reforms”, 63 Lok Sabha MPs and 57 Rajya Sabha lawmakers participated. 59 Private Members’ Bills were introduced in the Upper House during this session.Radhakrishnan, however, added, “Disruption created during yesterday’s sitting by the opposition Members by shouting slogans, displaying placards, disrupting the Minister replying the discussion, tearing up papers and throwing them in the well of the House showed conduct unbecoming of Members of Parliament. I earnestly hope that Members would introspect and not repeat such unruly behaviour in future.”Reminding the lawmakers that they are “custodians of democracy”, he said, “You have all positively responded to my call to spend every day, every hour, every minute, every second of our time in the House to strengthen our democracy by meaningful debates and discussions.”Later, addressing the media, Rijiju said the passage of several bills in the winter session will help in taking India towards the dream of “Viksit Bharat” while the discussion on Vande Mataram has stirred the spirit of patriotism. The minister said it was for the first time that Parliament also discussed electoral reforms.”...This shows just how ready the government is for discussions. After this discussion, there is no confusion left. The Opposition should thank us for this,” he said.Accusing “some” political leaders of trying to cast aspersions on the functioning of the election commission, he said the discussion on electoral reforms removed the apprehensions of the general public about the Election Commission and the electoral system.While the opposition has criticised the provisions of the G Ram G bill that was passed in Rajya Sabha late on Thursday night, Rijiju said the bill was intended to stem the leaks and bring in more transparency.“G Ram G bill is a very important bill brought and passed to stop corruption, bring more transparency. In the third term of the Narendra Modi Government the emphasis is on reforms express….” he said.The Bill guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.On the opposition’s disruption, the minister said the Congress disturbed the house. “In the Rajya Sabha they did not climb tables…but they tore up papers, raised slogans, flew paper planes and climbed the table in the Lok Sabha…” he said blaming the opposition for disrupting the House and undermining democracy.