The recently concluded budget session of Parliament was the most productive session in 15 years, data compiled by the PRS Legislative Research shows.
While Lok Sabha worked for 123 per cent of its scheduled time, Rajya Sabha worked for 102 per cent.
Productivity has been high in the 16th Lok Sabha, a fact BJP spokespersons attribute to good management. However large majorities in the Lok Sabha are usually associated with high productivity; the Rajiv Gandhi government from 1984 to 1989 also saw productivity at over 100 per cent.
Question Hour, which has been a victim of disruptions in the recent past, functioned particularly well – 135 questions were answered in each House during the session, which is double the previous average. This means that a third of all submitted questions were answered orally in the Rajya Sabha, the highest proportion in the last 10 years.
The time management around budgetary discussions has always been a bit farcical and in that, this session was no exception. Just over ten per cent of the total demand for grants gets discussed typically, and the rest gets ‘guillotined’ or passed without discussion. This session did only slightly better. Just six of 56 ministries had their demands for grants discussed in the Lok Sabha.
Eighteen Bills were introduced during the session, a third of which were Bills to replace ordinances.
While Bills are typically passed by voice vote, this Lok Sabha also saw a 15-year-high of 17 per cent Bills being passed with recorded voting instead.
