Parliament Diary

Winter Session-II: February 21, 2014

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned Sine Die today. This marks the end of
the last Parliamentary Session of the 15th Lok Sabha. The Whistleblower
Protection Bill, 2014 and The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2014 were passed by Rajya Sabha today.
Both Bills had been passed by Lok Sabha previously. This brings the total count
of Bills passed during this Session to 12, of which five were Finance and
Appropriation Bills.  179 Bills have been passed in total during the 15th
Lok Sabha.

The 7 Legislative Bills passed are:

1. The
   Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending)
   Bill, 2013
2. The
   National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research
   (Amendment) Bill, 2013
3. The
   Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Amendment Bill, 2013
4. The
   Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University Bill, 2012
5. The
   Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2011
6. The
   Whistleblower Protection Bill, 2014
7. The
   Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014

 
10 Bills were introduced in this Session. They are:

• The Rights of Persons with
  Disabilities Bill,
  2014                             
• The Constitution (Scheduled
  Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014
• The Human Immunodeficiency
  Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control)
  Bill,
  2014                              
• The Acquisition of Certain
  Area in Mumbai for Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Bill,
  2014            
   
• The Andhra Pradesh
  Reorganisation Bill,
  2014                                
• The Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill,
  2014                                  
• The Waqf Properties
  (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014
• The Delhi Hotels (Control
  of Accommodation) Repeal Bill, 2014     
• The Tribunals, Appellate
  Tribunals and Other Authorities (Conditions of Service) Bill, 2014  
          
• The Food Safety and
  Standards (Amendment) Bill,
  2014                            

Productivity
The extended Winter Session of Parliament started on the February 5,
2014. In the 12 sittings since then, Lok Sabha has lost 79% of scheduled time
to disruptions, while the Rajya Sabha has lost 73% of scheduled time to
disruptions. Both Houses together were productive for 24% of the total time.
Question Hour functioned for 11% of its scheduled time in Lok Sabha, with only
8 out of 220 listed Starred Questions were answered in Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, no
Questions were orally answered at all in Rajya Sabha.

The overall productivity of the 15th Lok Sabha was 61%.  A breakdown of
productivity from the 3rd to the current Lok Sabha can be
seen here and that of the different sessions of the 15th Lok
Sabha can be
seen here. From 1952 to 1967, each of the three Lok Sabhas sat
for an average of 600 days and more than 3,700 hours. In comparison, the 15th
Lok Sabha -- from 2009 till 2013 -- has met for 357 days and 1,338 hours.
 

Pending Bills
128 Bills are currently pending in Parliament. Of these, 60 are pending in
Rajya Sabha, while 68 are pending in Lok Sabha. All Lok Sabha Bills will now
lapse. The
highest number of lapsing Bills are in the Ministry of Finance (12),
followed by Human Resource Development (10), Personnel, Public Grievances and
Pensions (8), Law and Justice (7) and Home Affairs (5).

Important Bills that will lapse are:

• The Judicial Standards and
  Accountability Bill, 2010
• The Mines and Minerals
  (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2011
• The Electronic Delivery of
  Services Bill, 2011
• The Micro Finance
  Institutions (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2012
• The Small Industries
  Development Bank of India
  (Amendment) Bill, 2012
• The Civil Aviation
  Authority of India
  Bill, 2013
• The Coal Regulatory
  Authority Bill, 2013
• The Prevention of Bribery
  of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations
  Bill, 2011
• The Direct Taxes Code Bill,
  2010
• The Foreign Educational
  Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010
• The National Accreditation
  Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill, 2010
• The Constitution (112th
  Amendment) Bill, 2009 (Reserves for women 50% of seats in municipalities)
• The Constitution (110th
  Amendment) Bill, 2009 (Reserves for women 50% of seats in panchayat)
• The Constitution (One
  Hundred and Fifteenth Amendment) Bill, 2011 (Goods and Services Tax Bill)
• The Educational Tribunals
  Bill, 2010

For more information, check
out the PRS
Session Wrap, Plan
vs. Performance, and Legislative
Performance of Parliament during the 15th Lok Sabha.