India’s Parliament Resumes Budget Session, Clears Finance Bill Amid Opposition Protests
New Delhi, March 25 – India’s Parliament resumed its Budget Session on Monday, with the Lok Sabha passing the Finance Bill, 2025, while the Rajya Sabha debated key legislation, including the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The session saw heated exchanges between ruling and opposition parties, leading to repeated adjournments.
The Lok Sabha, India’s lower house, passed the Finance Bill by voice vote, rejecting amendments proposed by opposition lawmakers. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the bill, stating it aimed to ensure tax certainty and ease of doing business. The government is also reviewing GST reductions on certain agricultural inputs, she told lawmakers. Sitharaman reiterated that all GST compensation dues to states had been cleared.
Debates in the lower house also focused on The Boilers Bill, 2024, with BJP lawmaker Rajkumar Chahar highlighting the government’s commitment to worker safety. Opposition MP Sougata Roy of the Trinamool Congress supported the bill but called for modernization of factories using outdated boiler technology to prevent industrial accidents. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged lawmakers to consider the bill’s passage, citing its importance in simplifying certification norms.
The Rajya Sabha, the upper house, took up The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024, with NCP lawmaker Praful Patel backing the legislation. He emphasized the need for enhanced disaster preparedness and noted that Rs. 1.28 trillion had been allocated to states under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) between 2021 and 2026.
Congress MP Neeraj Dangi criticized the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting protests from the treasury benches. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh stressed the importance of a coordinated approach involving society, political parties, and organizations in disaster management.
The session also saw opposition lawmakers raising concerns over delays in census data collection and the release of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In response, the government said discrepancies in fund utilization needed to be addressed before releasing pending payments to certain states.
Amid the legislative discussions, Speaker Om Birla announced that Parliament would not sit on March 29 following consultations with political parties. The Budget Session, which has witnessed repeated disruptions over political controversies, is set to continue with further debates on financial and policy matters in the coming days.
