The first part of the budget session of Parliament came to a close last night. Both the Houses were adjourned to meet on 25th of next month. The Rajya Sabha sat till late in the night to complete discussion and General Budget and returned the Appropriation Bill for 2016-17 to Lok Sabha. <br/><br/>The first part of the session turned out to be a very productive. Lok Sabha worked 123 per cent of the scheduled time while productivity of Rajya Sabha was 103 per cent. Both houses deliberated on issues relating to women and most of the female MPs were given time to participate on International Women's Day. There were quality debates on Motion of Thanks on President's Address, Real Estate bill and General and Railway Budgets. Disruptions of proceedings came down substantially during the period. <br/><br/>Ten bills were passed by Parliament during the first part of the session which began on 23rd of last month. Lok Sabha passed nine bills whereas Rajya Sabha approved 11. The important bills which got Parliament's nod included Real Estate Regulation and Development Bill, Aadhar Bill and Election Laws Amendment Bill. Besides, Rajya Sabha took up two Calling Attention Motions and Lok Sabha one. <br/><br/>Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu termed the first part of the budget session as most significant and rewarding on several counts. Mr Naidu said Rajya Sabha witnessed rare occasion when the opposition and treasury benches gave credit to each other for introducing and piloting the Real Estate Bill. <br/><br/>By passing the Aadhar and the Real Estate Bill, Parliament has enabled the beginning of a new era of transparent governance in the country.

The first part of the budget session of Parliament came to a close last night. Both the houses were adjourned to meet on 25th of next month. Rajya Sabha sat till late night to complete discussion over general budget and return the appropriation bill to Lok Sabha. With this, Parliament completed the first stage of the budgetary exercise. <br/><br/>Replying to the debate on the general budget, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha termed it as the budget for upliftment of India. He countered opposition charge about inflation, saying the government has been able to manage inflation and the prices of most of the commodities with the exception of pulses has either come down or has remained stable. The opposition said the Budget lacks direction and purpose.<br/><br/>Mr. Sinha insisted that the government policies are dedicated to the poor and uplifting the last man in the row. He said, the proposals in the budget have focused on poor and the farm sector. The Minister further said that the decision to keep the fiscal deficit under check at 3.5 per cent of the GDP for 2016-17 was highly appreciated by the Economist magazine and has also evoked good response from the bond market. <br/><br/>Brushing aside the opposition criticism that the government has curtailed allocations for social sector schemes, Mr. Sinha said substantial funds have been earmarked for healthcare and irrigation and plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.<br/><br/>Our correspondent reports that the first part of the session turned out to be a very productive. Lok Sabha worked 123 per cent of the scheduled time while productivity of Rajya Sabha has been 103 per cent. Both the House deliberated on issues relating to women and most of the female MPs were given time to participate on International Women Day. <br/><br/>There were quality debates on Motion of Thanks on President's Address, Real Estate bill and General and Railway Budgets. Disruptions of proceedings came down substantially during the period. Ten bills were passed by Parliament during the first part of the session which began on 23rd of last month. Lok Sabha passed nine bills whereas Rajya Sabha approved 11. <br/><br/>The important bills which got Parliament's nod included Real Estate Regulation and Development Bill, Aaadhar Bill and Election Laws Amendment Bill. Besides, Rajya Sabha took up two Calling Attention Motions and Lok Sabha one. <br/><br/>Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu termed the first part of the budget session as most significant and rewarding on several counts. Mr. Naidu said Rajya Sabha witnessed rare occasion when the opposition and treasury benches gave credit to each other for introducing and piloting the Real Estate Bill. <br/><br/>The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said by passing the Aadhaar and the Real Estate Bill, Parliament has enabled the beginning of a new era of transparent governance in the country.