The Monsoon Session of Parliament was ‘highly productive’, Mr. Hamid Ansari, Chairman of Rajya Sabha, mentioned in the valedictory remarks at the conclusion of the session today. Various bills were passed and a variety of issues were discussed in the 20 sittings of the house that lasted over 112 hours.
PRS Legislative Research has analysed various aspects of parliament productivity of the current session. Here are the major findings.
(In the following charts, BS, WS and MS refer to Budget Session, Winter Session and Monsoon Session respectively)
Lesser time was lost to disruptions in this session
Rajya Sabha met for 96 per cent of its scheduled time in the current session compared to 76 per cent in the previous sessions since May 2014, which implies that lesser time was lost to disruptions. Lok Sabha met for 101 per cent of its scheduled time, almost similar (102 per cent) to the previous sessions of the current Parliament.
Both houses sat for extra time on most days.
Rajya Sabha set beyond its scheduled time on 14 of the 20 days of this session whereas Lok Sabha did so on 11 days.
Various issues discussed
Parliament has regularly been discussing a variety of issues since 2004, including internal security, inflation, natural calamities, agriculture and corruption.
Where did Parliament spend its time?
Rajya Sabha spent 29 per cent of its time and Lok Sabha spent 38 per cent of its time on legislative purposes.
Rajya Sabha spent most of its time — 52 per cent — and Lok Sabha spent 40 per cent of its time on non-legislative business, discussing issues like inflation, atrocities against Dalits and recent incidents in Kashmir.
Bills passed
Seven of the 14 bills that were introduced were passed in this session itself. This includes Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill which was passed in less than half an hour in each House, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill were introduced and passed by one House on the same day. Overall, 14 bills were passed in this session.
Fewer Bills being referred to committees
Only 31 per cent of the bills introduced in the 16th Lok Sabha have been referred to a Parliamentary committee, compared to 71 per cent in 15th Lok Sabha and 60 per cent in 14th Lok Sabha. During this session, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for detailed examination.
How much time does it take to pass an amendment?
Of the total 101 amendments made to the Constitution of India, 11 took more than a year to be passed, including the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill which was passed in this session. Others that took over a year provide for the Right to Education and State Level Rent Control Tribunals. An amendment related to co-operative societies took over two years to get passed.
Previously, three amendments, the ones relating to proclamation of emergency in states and inclusion of languages, have been passed in less than a day.
