Monsoon session of Parliament extended till August 7

The Monsoon session of Parliament on Thursday was extended till August 7. This session has been extended by eight days. The decision was made in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA).

The current session has been extended to enable passage of pending government legislations. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi placed a proposal on this before the House and Speaker Om Birla then announced that the session has been extended up to August 7. Under the original schedule, the session was to adjourn on July 25.

The Constitution empowers the President to summon each House at such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions. Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year. In India, the Parliament conducts three sessions each year--Budget session (February to May), Monsoon session (July to September) and Winter session (November to December).

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday had said the government is moving to extend the Parliament session and noted that the opposition parties should not have any objection as they have been in favour of Parliament working for at least 100 days in a year.

Answering queries from reporters after meeting of the Union Cabinet, he said 80 per cent of the Bills taken up were those which had lapsed with the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha as these could not be passed in Rajya Sabha. He said the Bills could not be passed for nearly one-and-a-half years and were being taken up now.