Functioning of 17th Lok Sabha

• Context (TH): PRS Legislative Research released vital stats on the functioning of 17^th Lok Sabha.
• The 17th Lok Sabha held its sessions between June 2019 and February 2024.

Findings of the Report

• Lok Sabha functioned for 88% of its scheduled time, while Rajya Sabha worked for 73%.
• The 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings. Only four previous Lok Sabhas have had fewer sittings, all of which were dissolved before completing the five-year term.

• This is the first time Lok Sabha did not elect the Deputy Speaker for its entire duration.
  • Art 93 of IC requires that Lok Sabha elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker ‘as soon as may be’.
• Most Bills introduced during the term of the 17th LS were passed. 58% of the 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 introduction.

• 16% of Bills were referred to Committees for detailed scrutiny. This is lower than corresponding figures for the previous three Lok Sabhas.

• 729 Private Members’ Bills (PMBs) were introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha, which is higher than all previous Lok Sabhas, except the 16th. However, only two PMBs were discussed.
  • Till date, only 14 PMBs have been passed and received assent. None have been passed in both Houses since 1970.
• Question Hour functioned for 60% of scheduled time in Lok Sabha and 52% in Rajya Sabha.
• Over the years, the time spent on budget discussions in Lok Sabha has reduced. The 17th Lok Sabha discussed the annual budget for 35 hours on average.