Lok Sabha Wraps Sixth Session with 111% Productivity
New Delhi: The Sixth Session of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha, which began on December 1, 2025, concluded on December 19 after 15 sittings spread over 19 days, marking a high-output Winter Session of Parliament. According to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the House recorded a productivity of 111 per cent, with total sittings amounting to 92 hours and 25 minutes.
During the session, 10 government bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha, of which eight were passed. The legislative agenda covered a wide range of areas, including taxation, insurance, nuclear energy, rural employment, national security financing and capital markets regulation. The bills passed by the Lok Sabha included amendments to the Manipur Goods and Services Tax law, the Central Excise Act, insurance laws under the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha framework, and the Repealing and Amending Bill, along with the Appropriation (No. 4) Bill for the financial year 2025–26.
Among the more consequential legislations cleared were the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, aimed at augmenting resources for public health and national security expenditure, and the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, which seeks to establish a comprehensive framework for the promotion, regulation and application of nuclear energy and ionising radiation across power generation, healthcare, agriculture, research and industry. The Lok Sabha also passed the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, which provides a statutory framework for rural wage employment aligned with the Viksit Bharat @2047 vision.
In addition, the Securities Markets Code Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha and subsequently referred to the Departmental Standing Committee of the House for detailed examination.
The First Batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2025–26 was discussed and voted upon on December 15, following which the related Appropriation Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha and returned by the Rajya Sabha the next day. A bill replacing the Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Ordinance, promulgated after the Monsoon Session, was also approved by both Houses during the session. Separately, a statutory resolution on the adoption of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024, in the State of Manipur was adopted by the Rajya Sabha earlier in the session.
Parliament devoted substantial time to thematic debates. A special discussion commemorating 150 years of the national song “Vande Mataram” was initiated by the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha on December 8 and continued for 11 hours and 32 minutes, with participation from 65 members. The Rajya Sabha held its own discussion over three days, engaging the House for nearly 13 hours with 81 members participating. Electoral reforms were debated extensively in both Houses over multiple days, with the Lok Sabha discussion spanning nearly 13 hours and the Rajya Sabha debate extending over 10 hours.
Parliamentary oversight and member participation remained active throughout the session. The Lok Sabha admitted 300 starred questions, of which 72 were answered orally, and over 3,400 unstarred questions. Members raised 408 matters of urgent public importance during Zero Hour, while 372 issues were taken up under Rule 377. A notable instance of participation was recorded on December 11, when 150 members raised matters during Zero Hour. In addition, 35 statements were made under Direction 73A, and a total of 2,116 papers were laid on the Table of the House. Forty-one reports of departmental parliamentary standing committees were also presented.
Private Members’ legislative business saw 137 bills introduced on December 5. A Private Member’s Resolution moved by Shafi Parambil was later withdrawn after discussion with the permission of the House. The session also witnessed parliamentary diplomacy, with the Lok Sabha receiving Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, and his delegation on December 2.
According to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the Winter Session concluded with eight bills passed by both Houses of Parliament, with the Rajya Sabha clearing the same set of legislation passed by the Lok Sabha during the session. The productivity of the Lok Sabha during the session stood at approximately 110 per cent, while the Rajya Sabha recorded productivity of about 121 per cent, reflecting extended sittings and limited disruptions.
In comparison with earlier sittings of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha, the productivity figure recorded in the Sixth Session is marginally higher than the productivity reported in the Fifth Session earlier in 2025, and aligns with the higher end of productivity levels seen in sessions of the previous Lok Sabha. Productivity figures in earlier sessions of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha, including its Winter Sessions, were generally recorded below 110 per cent, based on parliamentary productivity data released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The legislative outcomes of the session, particularly in the areas of fiscal policy, energy, rural employment, capital markets regulation and institutional reform, are seen as significant steps in advancing the government’s broader development agenda under the Viksit Bharat framework, while the high productivity figures underline a comparatively efficient functioning of both Houses during the Winter Session.
– global bihari bureau
