The Budget session of Parliament was held from January 31, 2023 to April 6, 2023, with a recess from February 14 to March 12. Parliament adjourned sine die on April 6, having sat for 25 days. This session saw limited legislative activity, and minimal discussion on the budget amidst continuous disruptions.
17th LS likely to be the shortest Lok Sabha since 1952
Entering the final year of its term, the 17th Lok Sabha has functioned for 230 sitting days so far. Of all the Lok Sabhas that completed the full five-year term, the 16th Lok Sabha had the lowest sitting days (331). With one more year remaining in the term, and 58 average sitting days a year, the 17th Lok Sabha is unlikely to sit for more than 331 days. This could make it the shortest full term Lok Sabha since 1952.
In this session, Lok Sabha functioned for 33% of its scheduled time (46 hours) and Rajya Sabha for 24% (32 hours). In the 15 days of the second part of the session, Lok Sabha worked for 5% and Rajya Sabha for 6% of scheduled time, with most of the time spent on the procedural work of tabling papers.
One Bill passed without discussion; three introduced
The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was the only Bill passed during this session (excluding Finance and Appropriation Bills). This Bill as well as the Finance Bill were passed without any discussion by either House.
Three Bills were introduced, one of which, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
In this Lok Sabha, so far, 150 Bills have been introduced and 131 have been passed (excluding Finance and Appropriation Bills). In the first session, 38 Bills were introduced and 28 were passed. Since then, the number of Bills introduced and passed has declined. Fewer than 10 Bills have been introduced or passed in each of the last four consecutive sessions.
All proposed expenditure passed without discussion
This has been the sixth shortest budget session since 1952. Lok Sabha spent 18 hours on financial business, of which 16 hours were spent on the general discussion of the budget. In the previous budget sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, financial business was discussed for 55 hours on average.
The expenditure of five ministries (amounting to Rs 11 lakh crore) was listed for discussion in Lok Sabha, however, none were discussed. The proposed expenditure of all ministries, amounting to Rs 42 lakh crore, was passed without any discussion. In the last seven years, on average, 79% of the budget has been passed without discussion.
Rajya Sabha discusses the working of select ministries during the budget session. This session, it was to discuss the working of seven ministries including the Ministries of Railways, Skill Development, Rural Development, Cooperation, and Culture. None of these were discussed.
Debates in Parliament reducing
The Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address was the only item discussed in this session. It was discussed for about 28 hours in both Houses, with 150 members participating in total.
The Rules of Procedure of both Houses of Parliament provide for various devices which can be used to draw attention to matters of public importance, and hold the government accountable. These include half-an-hour discussions, short duration discussions, and adjournment motions. In the 17th Lok Sabha, only 11 short duration discussions and one half-an-hour discussion have been held so far. None were held in this session.
In Rajya Sabha, under Rule 267, the proceedings of the House may be suspended with the permission of the Chairperson to discuss a matter of importance (analogous to adjournment motions in Lok Sabha). In this session, more than 150 notices were filed under this rule, none were accepted.
Poor functioning of Question Hour; limited private member business discussed
This session also saw the least amount of time spent on questions in the current Lok Sabha. Question Hour functioned for 19% of scheduled time in Lok Sabha and 9% in Rajya Sabha. About 7% of starred questions were answered in each House.
No Private Member Bills were introduced or discussed. Each House discussed one Private Member Resolution. Lok Sabha discussed the beautification and modernisation of railway stations while Rajya Sabha discussed the implementation of the Sachar Committee report.
Entering the final year of its term, Lok Sabha still does not have a Deputy Speaker
Article 93 of the Constitution states that Lok Sabha will choose two Members of the House to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker, as soon as possible. The 17th Lok Sabha has not elected a Deputy Speaker even as it enters the final year of its five-year term. This is despite the Supreme Court issuing a notice to the central government in February 2023 to respond to a public interest litigation regarding delay in the election of the Deputy Speaker.
There has just been one instance in the past – 269 days during the 12th Lok Sabha – when it took over three months to elect a Deputy Speaker.
This article was originally published on the PRS Legislative Research website.