Vital Stats

Performance of Parliament during the15 the15th Lok Sabha

Over its five year term, the 15th Lok Sabha was disrupted frequently and witnessed a decline in time spent on legislation and oversight of the government. Disruptions over the allocation of 2G spectrum, coal blocks, FDI in retail, demand for Telengana, and the Commonwealth Games were the highlight of the 15th Lok Sabha. While the number of Bills passed, compares poorly to previous Lok Sabhas, significant laws passed during the term of the 15th Lok Sabha include the Right to Education, Land Acquisition, Food Security, Companies, and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bills.

Productivity of the 15th Lok Sabha has been the worst in the last fifty years
Productive Time in Lok Sabha: 3rd to 15th Lok Sabha
140% 120% 120% 100% 80% 61% 60% 40% 20% 0% 3rd 4th 5th
1st

107% 108% 110% 109%

111%

115% 98%

109% 109% 91% 87%

The productive time of the Lok Sabha in the past five years stands at 61%. This has been the worst performance of the lower house in more than fifty years. In comparison, the 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas worked for 91% and 87%, respectively. During the 15th Lok Sabha, frequent disruptions of Parliamentary proceedings have resulted in the Lok Sabha working for 61% and Rajya Sabha for 66% of its scheduled time. The first five sessions of the 15th Lok Sabha worked for an average of 81%, despite some disruptions. Disruptions in Parliament escalated since the Winter Session 2010 with the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the 2G spectrum scam. Since then, the Lok Sabha has worked for an average of 52% and Rajya Sabha for 55%.

6th
and 2nd

7th

8th

9th

10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th

Note: Productive time of the

Lok Sabhas was not available

15th Lok Sabha passed 116 Bills; 68 Bills will lapse upon its dissolution
Status of Bills Passed and Lapsed: 1st to15th Lok Sabha
500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Bills Passed Bills Lapsed at the Dissolution of each Lok Sabha

The 15th Lok Sabha passed 177 Bills of the 326 to be considered and passed during its five year tenure. This is the least number of Bills passed by a full five year term Lok Sabha. In comparison, the 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas had passed 297 and 248 Bills, respectively. 228 Bills were introduced in the 15th Lok Sabha. With the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha having ended, a total of 68 Bills will lapse. These include the Womens Reservation Bill, Direct Taxes Code, Micro Finance Bill, Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill and the Bill enabling the introduction of Goods and Services Tax. The Constitution provides that if a Bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha and not passed by it, the Bill shall not lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. With the conclusion of the 15th Lok Sabha, 60 such Bills will continue to be pending before the 16th Lok Sabha. In comparison, the 15th Lok Sabha inherited 37 Bills that were pending when the 14th Lok Sabha ended.

Note: The 6th, 9th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabhas did not complete a five year term

Kusum Malik kusum@prsindia.org

Mandira Kala mandira@prsindia.org February 21, 2014

PRS Legislative Research Institute for Policy Research Studies 3rd Floor, Gandharva Mahavidyalaya 212, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg New Delhi 110002 Tel: (011) 2323 4801-02, 4343 4035-36 www.prsindia.org

Performance of Parliament during the 15th Lok Sabha

PRS Legislative Research

While several Bills were passed, 60 Bills are pending before the 16th Lok Sabha
Bills Passed by the 15th Lok Sabha Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009 National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009 Copy right (Amendment) Bill, 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010 Salary, Allowances & Pension of MPs (Amendment) Bill, 2010 Protection of Women from Sex ual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010 Companies Bill, 2011 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011 Prevention of Money -Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2011 Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011 Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood & Regulation) Bill, 2012 National Food Security Bill, 2013 Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 Note: Discussion time in Hours: Minutes Discussion Time MP Participation LS 5:32 4:29 2:04 4:42 1:26 0:19 3:40 1:51 2:53 3:11 8:08 7:18 4:08 9:08 5:41 1:28 RS 5:26 2:57 2:36 5:05 0:54 2:52 3:04 1:07 1:42 4:10 6:19 15:31 0:08 9:33 3:20 3:25 LS 46 25 10 20 10 0 12 10 13 15 70 54 44 105 28 18 RS 27 13 13 25 11 16 13 5 10 17 26 61 0 37 21 25

Of the 116 Bills passed by the 15th Lok Sabha, a significant percentage of Bills were passed without adequate debate in the House. In the Lok Sabha, 36% of the total Bills passed were debated for less than thirty minutes. Of these, 20 Bills were passed in less than five minutes. In the Rajya Sabha, 38% of the total Bills passed were debated for more than two hours, and 7 Bills were debated for less than five minutes. 60 Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha at the end of the 15th Lok Sabha include the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, Higher Education and Research Bill, and Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill.

60% of the time for Question Hour was lost to disruptions during the 15th Lok Sabha
Question Hour: Productive Hours as % of Scheduled Time
90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% BS' WS' BS' MS' WS' BS' MS' WS' BS' MS' WS' BS' MS' WS' WS' 09 09 09 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 (II) Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha

During the 15th Lok Sabha, Question Hour was a major casualty to disruptions. Question Hour is the first hour of every Parliamentary sitting, devoted to questions posed by MPs, to be orally answered by Ministers. Lok Sabha lost 61% of the time scheduled for Question Hour and Rajya Sabha lost 59%. A total 6,479 questions were scheduled for oral answers in Lok Sabha and 6,512 in Rajya Sabha during the 15th Lok Sabha. Of these, only 10% of questions were answered in Lok Sabha and 12% in Rajya Sabha, No question in the Rajya Sabha could be answered orally during three sessions of the 15th Lok Sabha.

Scrutiny and Discussion of the Budget has been lacking in the 15th Lok Sabha
Time spent on Budget since the 13th Lok Sabha (hrs)
90 80 70 60 50 40 18 30 9% 20 10 0 6 4 9 8% 31 1 30 22 27 34 34 35 15 23% 19% 21 17% 17 18 43 30 28 32 20 17 14 59 7 11 23 26% 25% 37% 38% 25 27% 33% 30% 31% 30% 25% 20% 15% 16 14 10% 3% 5% 0% 39% 38% 45% 40% 35%

Over the years, Parliament has been spending lesser time on discussing the Budget and the 15th Lok Sabha has witnessed several instances where the financial proposals of the government were passed without scrutiny and debate. In the last five years, 29 % of total productive time was spent on discussing the Budget. The Interim Budget in 2014 was passed without discussion. In 2013, the Finance Bill and Demands for Grants amounting to Rs 16.6 lakh crore were voted and passed without any discussion. In 2011 and 2012, 81% and 92 % of total demands by ministries were voted on together, without any discussion. During the tenure of the 15th Lok Sabha, in 2011 Budget was passed without standing committees scrutinising the demands for grants from various ministries.

0.62 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Union Budget Railways Total,% of total time (RHS)

Note: Discussion on General Budget does not include Finance Bill

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February 21, 2014

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