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Parliament functioning in Budget Session 2022

Vital Stats

Parliament functioning in Budget Session 2022

The Budget session of Parliament was held from January 31, 2022 to April 7, 2022, with a recess from February 12 to March 13. Parliament adjourned sine die one day ahead of schedule, having sat for 27 days. In this Lok Sabha, this is the sixth consecutive time when a session has been cut short, ahead of the scheduled date. 

Few Bills introduced; none referred to Committees

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  • Seven Bills were introduced in the session (excluding the Appropriation and Finance Bills). This is less than half of the average of 15 Bills introduced across budget sessions since 2009. Five Bills were passed, of which one was pending from the previous session (the Chartered Accountants Bill). Other Bills passed include the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, and the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
  • During the three years of this Lok Sabha, 134 Bills have been introduced, of which 114 have been passed and six withdrawn. 35 Bills remain pending at the end of this session, of which 21 were introduced before the start of the current Lok Sabha (in June 2019), the oldest being from 1992.
     
  • None of the Bills introduced in this session were referred to Parliamentary Committees. In the current Lok Sabha, only 13% of the Bills have been referred to Committees. This is much lower than the last three Lok Sabhas. For instance, in the 15th LS, 71% of the Bills were referred to Committees, while 27% of the Bills were referred to Committees in the 16th LS. 

 Rajya Sabha sat for 90% of its scheduled time; Lok Sabha for 123% 

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  • On March 15, 2022, Lok Sabha sat for 13 hours which included an 11.5 hour discussion on the budget of the Railways Ministry.  Rajya Sabha’s longest sitting was for over 7.5 hours on March 30, 2022, during which the working of the Labour Ministry was discussed for over four hours. 
     
  • In the 17th Lok Sabha, so far, Lok Sabha has worked for around 100% of its scheduled time, while Rajya Sabha has worked for 77% of its scheduled time. Note that, scheduled time implies scheduled hours (typically six hours) on actual days of sitting. 

Lok Sabha spent most of its time on financial matters; Rajya Sabha on debates 

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  • In Lok Sabha, financial matters were discussed for 40% of the total sitting time.  Rajya Sabha spent 18% of its time discussing the working of four Ministries: (i) Development of North-Eastern Region, (ii) Tribal Affairs, (iii) Railways, and (iv) Labour and Employment. Further, it spent around 10% of its time on Motion of thanks to the President’s Address.
     
  • On average, across the last four budget sessions, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have spent 22% of their sitting time on legislative business. This session, both Houses spent lesser share of their time on legislative business.
     
  • Lok Sabha takes up discussions on issues of public importance under Rule 193. This session, the House discussed the situation in Ukraine and the need to promote sports in India. Further, the discussion on climate change (which commenced in Winter Session 2021) was concluded. Rajya Sabha did not have any such discussion in this session. 

73% of the budget was passed without discussion 

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Ministry-wise budgets discussed during the session in Lok Sabha

Ministry discussed

% of voted expenditure

Time spent discussing demand (in hrs: mins)

Railways

15.94%

12:59

Road Transport

9.88%

11:28

Commerce and Industry

0.36%

6:10

Civil Aviation

0.27%

7:53

Ports and Shipping

0.06%

4:41
  • Lok Sabha discussed the expenditure budget of five Ministries.  These constitute 27% of the total voted expenditure. The remaining 73% of the voted expenditure was passed without discussion. In the past six years, on average, 76% of the budget has been passed without discussion in Lok Sabha.

Question hour in Lok Sabha functioned for 89% of its scheduled time; 76% for Rajya Sabha  

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Note:  Due to COVID-19, Question Hour was suspended in Monsoon Session 2020.  

  • In Lok Sabha, Question Hour functioned for 89% of the scheduled time and 36% questions were answered orally. In Rajya Sabha, it functioned for 76% of the scheduled time and 38% questions were answered orally.  Note that while Lok Sabha lists 20 starred questions every day (to be answered orally), Rajya Sabha lists 15.  
     
  • On four days, no questions were answered orally in Rajya Sabha.  On 18 occasions, Rajya Sabha sat for the entire duration of its scheduled time for Question Hour.  

Lok Sabha does not have a Deputy Speaker after nearly three years

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  • 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.
     
  • In the 17th Lok Sabha, election for the post of Deputy Speaker has not been conducted after nearly three years since it first convened. 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. 

Sources:  Bulletins of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as on April 7, 2022; Statistical Handbook, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, 2022; PRS. 

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