Parliament Winter Session: Both Houses Adjourned Sine Die; Key Bills Passed, Debates See Politically-Charged Attacks
Lok Sabha Speaker read out the valedictory address and noted 111% productivity while the Rajya Sabha recorded 121% productivity and saw passage of eight bills.
Published : December 19, 2025 at 2:12 PM IST
New Delhi: The Winter Session of the Parliament ended abruptly on Friday as both the Houses - Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha - were adjourned sine die, drawing curtains on the 19-day-long proceedings which saw passage of crucial Bills, including one to repeal the 20-year-old MNREGA and another on opening up the civil nuclear sector for private participation.
As soon as the House met for the day today, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out his brief valedictory address, noting that the productivity of the Lok Sabha during the session was registered at 111 per cent, with members sitting till late hours to discuss crucial legislation. He then adjourned the House sine die (for indefinite period), drawing curtains on the session that commenced on December 1. When Birla was reading out his valedictory statement, some members were heard raising "Mahatma Gandhi ki jai" slogans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present when the proceedings were adjourned.
During the 15 sittings of the Winter Session, the House took up two politically-charged debates -- on 150 years of Vande Matram and election reforms. A debate listed on air pollution, which was to be initiated by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, could not take place. The opposition had been insisting on a debate on the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in 12 states and UTs but the government made it clear that poll panel and its functioning cannot be discussed in the House, and agreed to hold a debate on election reforms instead.
The Opposition, however, focused its attack on SIR, the new law on appointment of chief election commissioner and election commissioners, and the alleged 'vote chori' carried out by the poll authority in connivance with the ruling BJP.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Bill, assuring 125 days of guaranteed jobs for rural India, was passed amid opposition protests on Thursday, including tearing of papers. The Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, which seeks to open the tightly-controlled civil nuclear sector for private participation, was also passed during the session.
The Lok Sabha also passed a Bill to raise FDI in the insurance sector to 100 per cent from the current 74 per cent, which is expected to increase insurance penetration, lower premiums, and boost job creation. The Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, was cleared by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote, a day after it was passed by the Lok Sabha.
The House also passed a Bill to repeal 65 Amendment Acts and six principal laws, which had lost relevance. A Bill to set up a higher education regulator -- the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan Bill, 2025 -- was referred to a joint committee of the two Houses.
The Bill seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India. Another Bill on the market securities code was introduced and referred to a department-related standing committee for further examination.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan on Friday strongly disapproved of disruptions by Opposition members during the passage of the rural employment guarantee bill (G RAM G), terming the conduct "unbecoming of Members of Parliament", and urged them to introspect and refrain from such behaviour in future.
Radhakrishnan read out a synopsis of the legislative and other business transacted during the 15-day sitting of the Winter session before adjourning the proceedings sine die. Adjourned sine die (Latin for ‘without a day') means suspending a parliamentary session indefinitely, without setting a specific date to reconvene. It's used when legislative bodies end a session without naming a future date for reassembly. The Winter session of Parliament started on December 1.
"Disruption created during yesterday's sitting by the Opposition Members by shouting slogans, displaying placards, disrupting the Minister replying to 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 Hon'ble Members would introspect and not repeat such unruly behaviour in future," he said.
The Rajya Sabha sat past midnight on Thursday to pass legislation that replaced the 20-year-old rural employment scheme -- the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) -- by boosting the number of guaranteed workdays to 125, up from the current 100 days per household for unskilled manual labour.
Opposition MPs protested the dropping of the name of the Father of the Nation from the new legislation, Guarantee for Employment and Livelihood Mission - Rural (Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission - Rural). Other than that, the 269th Session of the Upper House was "highly productive", registering 121 per cent productivity with sittings spanning about 92 hours, he said.
Delivering his valedictory remarks, Radhakrishnan said the Winter Session was significant as it marked his first stint presiding over the House after assuming office. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of the House J P Nadda, and Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge for their felicitations.
"The warmth and affection in your felicitations proved a source of great encouragement for me as I sat down discharging my constitutional responsibility as the Chairman of this august House," he said.
He said that in his first address, he sought the cooperation of members for the smooth functioning of the House. "I am happy that Hon’ble Members cooperated with the Chair to complete a significant amount of Business during this Winter Session." The Chairman noted that the House agreed to extend sittings or skip lunch recess on five days to transact business.
He said the session recorded an unprecedented rise in Zero Hour activity, with an average of over 84 notices received daily -- a 31 per cent increase over the previous two sessions -- while matters actually raised averaged more than 15 per day, up nearly 50 per cent.
Highlighting the quality of deliberations, Radhakrishnan said the House held a two-day special discussion on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram, with 82 members participating. A three-day discussion on electoral reforms saw interventions from 57 members.
During the session, the Rajya Sabha passed or returned eight Bills and adopted a statutory resolution on the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024, with participation from 212 members. As many as 59 Private Members' Bills were introduced, reflecting what he described as the "vibrancy of parliamentary democracy".
The Chairman also cited 58 starred questions, 208 Zero Hour submissions and 87 special mentions during the session, and said he issued a detailed ruling clarifying the scope of Rule 267. Radhakrishnan thanked the Deputy Chairman, members of the panel of vice-chairpersons, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and the media for their role in ensuring the smooth conduct of proceedings. (With PTI Inputs)
Also Read
