Monsoon Session Ends Eight Days Early: LS, RS Adjourned Sine Die

On its last day, RS passed 3 Bills for labour law reforms and the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, 23 September, eight days ahead of schedule, due to COVID-19.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned sine die on Wednesday, 23 September, eight days before they were scheduled to, as the Monsoon Session of the Parliament was curtailed in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.

While the Upper House was adjourned in the afternoon, proceedings in the Lower House concluded in the evening after passing of the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020.

Delivering his concluding remarks ahead of the adjournment, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu said that holding the Parliament session had required some innovative thinking, and appreciated the efforts of all those involved in making the session smooth.

The Monsoon Session, which began on 14 September with elaborate measures against COVID-19 in place, witnessed the passage of several major bills moved by the government, including the contentious farm bills and three bills on labour law reforms, amid protests by the Opposition.

What Happened on the Last Day?

On its last day, the Upper House passed three Bills for labour law reforms, as well as the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020, which was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill will include Kashmiri, Dongri and Hindi in the list of official languages in the Union Territory of J&K, in addition to the existing Urdu and English.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020 were passed on Wednesday when the Opposition was not present in the Upper House as part of its protest against the government's two farm bills.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)