LS records one of its lowest productivity in 20 years: PRS data

The Lok Sabha recorded one of its lowest productivity levels in more than two decades during the Monsoon Session that ended on Thursday, with only two Parliament sessions since 2004 showing lower functioning, according to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research.

The figures over the past 22 years show wide swings in parliamentary functioning, from sessions where the Houses sat well beyond their scheduled hours to those where political confrontation consumed most of the time available for business.

For the Lok Sabha, the just-concluded session falls among the worst. At 15 per cent, it matches the Winter session of 2016 and is ahead only of Winter 2010 and Winter 2013, when the House functioned for five per cent and eight per cent of its scheduled time respectively, according to the PRS data. The Rajya Sabha fared better than the Lok Sabha but still functioned for only 33 per cent of its scheduled time, according to PRS, an independent, not-for-profit group that researches and tracks the functioning of Parliament and state legislatures.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said the productivity of the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session was 19 per cent and that of the Rajya Sabha 39 per cent. Responding to a query on the slight variance, PRS maintained that it calculates House productivity by dividing the actual hours Parliament functioned in a session by the total planned sitting hours for that session.

The figure can exceed 100 per cent when a House sits beyond its scheduled hours.

The historical comparisons in this analysis use the PRS dataset to maintain a common yardstick across sessions. The worst washout since 2004 took place during the Winter session of 2010, when UPA-II was in power, with the Lok Sabha functioning for just five per cent of its scheduled time. The Rajya Sabha fared even worse, functioning for barely two per cent, as the session was paralysed by the opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum.

The Winter session of 2013 witnessed another low. The Lok Sabha functioned for only eight per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha for 19 per cent amid repeated disruptions in the final months of the UPA Government over the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana, along with protests over coal block allocations.

The Budget session of 2014, the last before the general elections that brought the NDA to power, was another low point. The Lok Sabha functioned for about 21 per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha for 27 per cent amid turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governed from May 2004 to May 2014, before the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power on May 26, 2014.

The Winter session of 2016 brought Lok Sabha productivity down to the level recorded in the just-concluded session, at 15 per cent, according to PRS. The Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, worked for 18 per cent of its scheduled time as demonetisation became a major flashpoint between the Government and the opposition.

At the other end, the Houses have on several occasions worked beyond their scheduled hours. During the UPA years, Lok Sabha productivity crossed 100 per cent in Winter 2004, Monsoon 2005 and Budget 2009. The Rajya Sabha crossed 100 per cent in three sessions during this period.

Since 2014, Lok Sabha productivity peaked at 148 per cent in the February 2024 Budget session, followed by 145 per cent in Monsoon 2020 and 137 per cent in the 2023 Special session.

The Rajya Sabha’s highest in 22 years was 137 per cent in the February 2024 Budget session.