Parliament’s average annual sitting days down to 55 in the 17th Lok Sabha from 135 in the first

The recently concluded 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings, and four previous Lok Sabhas, all of which were dissolved before the stipulated five-year period, had fewer sittings

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks in the Lok Sabha during the recently concluded Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The average annual sitting days of the first Lok Sabha, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the leader of House, was 135 days, and the 17th Lok Sabha, which concluded on Friday, sat only for 55 days on average in a year. 

According to a statistical study of the Parliament between June 2019 to February 2024 by the non-profit PRS Legislative Research, the 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings and the four previous Lok Sabhas, all of which were dissolved before the stipulated five-year period, had fewer sittings.

One of the explanations for the fewest sittings is the COVID-19 pandemic although it does not explain why 11 out of the 15 sessions held during this Lok Sabha were adjourned early, resulting in the cancellation of 40 scheduled sittings. Different reasons were cited for each cancellation. Out of the five years, Parliament sat for the lowest number of days (33 in total) in 2020.

The 17th Lok Sabha was the first ever to function without a Deputy Speaker, a constitutionally mandated position. Article 93 of the Constitution requires that the Lok Sabha elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker as soon as possible. 

The Opposition has often criticised the government for passing Bills in a hurry, many a time amidst a din, without any debate. The statistics appear to back the Opposition’s claim. According to the study, 58% of Bills were passed within two weeks of their introduction. The J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019 and the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023 were passed within two days of their introduction. “35% of Bills were passed with less than an hour of discussion in Lok Sabha. The corresponding figure for Rajya Sabha was 34,” the PRS study notes. 

Only 16% of the Bills were referred to Standing Committees for Parliamentary scrutiny. “This is lower than corresponding figures for the previous three Lok Sabhas,” the PRS study observed.  

Another big casualty of the fewer sittings were Private Members’ Bills (PMB) and resolutions. In all, 729 PMBs were introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha, which is higher than all the previous Lok Sabhas except the 16th. However, only two of them were discussed.

During the same period, 705 PMBs were introduced in Rajya Sabha, and 14 were discussed.

Till date, only 14 PMBs have been passed and received assent. None have been passed in both Houses since 1970.