With only two Bills introduced in the middle of commotion in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the number of Bills pending before Parliament has climbed to 130.
Key social sector legislation, including the Grievance Redressal Bill and the Whistleblower Protection Bill, will lapse if they are not passed in the next 10 days.
At the beginning of the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha, 126 Bills were pending before both Houses, the oldest among them dating back to 1987, according to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, an independent, non-partisan parliamentary research group. Another five date back to 1990-2000 and 30 to 2001-2010.
Some Bills have been passed by one House but not the other, one of the most notable of them being the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2010 by the Rajya Sabha. Bills introduced in the Upper House will survive the end of this Lok Sabha, but those introduced in the Lok Sabha will lapse if not passed in this session.
Important pending Bills include the Disabilities Bill and the Judicial Appointments Bill.
“Of course, there needs to be discussion and passage of contentious Bills like the Communal Violence Bill and the Telangana Bill,” Nikhil Dey of the National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) told The Hindu .
“But at the very least, Parliament must pass Bills on which there is consensus like the Grievance Redressal Bill and the Whistleblowers’ Bill,” he added.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Opposition for cooperation in the passage of six anti-corruption Bills, with the Bharatiya Janata Party insisting that it is keen to pass legislation if the government is able to get the House to run.
The 15th Lok Sabha has passed only 165 Bills so far, making it the least deliberative full-term Parliament ever.
In the five sittings since the beginning of this session, the Lok Sabha has lost 95 per cent of its time to disruptions, while the Rajya Sabha has lost 91 per cent of its time. The session ends on February 21.
