The Budget Session of parliament was held between January 31 and April 4, 2025. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha functioned
for 26 days. This note looks at the functioning of both the Houses during this period.
Lok Sabha functioned for 111% of its scheduled time, Question Hour for 78%
▪ Question Hour functioned for 78% and 83% of its scheduled time in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively. In Rajya Sabha, Question Hour was not held on four days.
Ministers gave oral response to 28% of starred questions in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. When a starred question is answered orally, MPs get to ask supplementary questions. Both Houses sat past midnight to pass Waqf Bill
▪ On April 2, 2025, Lok Sabha discussed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 for 13 hours and 53 minutes. Subsequently, it approved President’s Rule in Manipur after 42 minutes of discussion.
▪ Rajya Sabha sat on April 3, 2025 beyond midnight till 4:02 am the next morning. It discussed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 for 12 hours and 49 minutes and President’s Rule in Manipur for one hour and 24 minutes.
▪ On September 17, 1981, Rajya Sabha had sat till 4:43 am the next morning to discuss the Essential Services Maintenance Bill, 1981.
Eleven bills passed in the first year of 18th Lok Sabha, lowest since 1999
▪ Five Bills were introduced in this session. The Income Tax Bill, 2025 was referred to a Select Committee of Lok Sabha. Of the 20 Bills introduced during the 18th Lok Sabha, four have been referred to Committees.
▪ Parliament passed ten Bills in this session. These included the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, the Boilers Bill, 2024, and the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Budget discussed for 49 hours; only 10% of total expenditure discussed in Lok Sabha
▪ General discussion on the budget lasted for 16 hours in Lok Sabha and 17 hours in Rajya Sabha.
▪ Lok Sabha also discusses expenditure of Ministries. During this session, it discussed expenditures of three Ministries. About 90% of total budgeted expenditure by amount was passed without discussion in Lok Sabha.
▪ In the last decade, Lok Sabha has discussed the budget for Railways every year (until 2016 as a separate budget), except in 2018 and 2023, when the entire budget was passed without discussion. Other major Ministries were discussed only in some years.
President’s Address was discussed for 35 hours; no adjournment motions taken up
▪ The first session of Parliament every year begins with an address by the President, following which both Houses hold a discussion on the President’s Address. In this session, the President’s Address was discussed for 35 hours.
▪ Over 85 notices for adjournment motions were given in Lok Sabha. However, none of them were accepted. In Rajya Sabha, more than 144 notices were filed under Rule 267. None of these were accepted or discussed. These instruments allow scheduled House business to be set aside for discussion of matters of urgent importance.
▪ During the session, Lok Sabha discussed one calling attention motion regarding hardships faced by fisherfolk in the country. No short duration discussion was taken up.
▪ Every Friday, two and a half hours are reserved for private members’ (MPs who are not Ministers) Bills and resolutions.
▪ In Lok Sabha, private members’ business was taken up on only one Friday when a resolution was discussed. In Rajya Sabha, one private member Bill and one private member resolution were discussed on two Fridays.
No Deputy Speaker since June 2019
▪ The 18th Lok Sabha has not yet elected a Deputy Speaker. The 17th Lok Sabha did not elect a Deputy Speaker for its entire term. The Constitution requires Lok Sabha to choose a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker as soon as possible.
▪ The Deputy Speaker acts as the Speaker in case of a vacancy or absence of Speaker due to ill health. No confidence motions against the Speaker are also submitted to the Deputy Speaker.
▪ In February 2023, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the central government to respond to a public interest litigation regarding delays in election of Deputy Speaker.
Sources: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Lists of Business, Bulletins; Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Statistical Statement 2023, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; Practice and Procedure of Parliament, MN Kaul and SL Shakdher (2016), The Journey Since 1952, Rajya Sabha (2019); PRS
