Vital Stats

Vital Stats

Parliament functioning in Winter Session 2021

The winter session of Parliament was held from November 29, 2021 to December 22, 2021. Parliament adjourned one day ahead of schedule, having sat for 18 days. On the first day, 12 MPs were suspended from Rajya Sabha for not observing parliamentary conduct on the last day of Monsoon Session 2021. On the penultimate day of the session, another Rajya Sabha MP was suspended on the grounds of disorderly conduct.

Rajya Sabha sits for 43% of its scheduled time; Lok Sabha for 77%

Lok Sabha worked for 77% of its scheduled time, while Rajya Sabha worked for 43%.
On November 29, 2021, Lok Sabha sat for over 12 hours which included a discussion on COVID-19. Rajya Sabha’s longest sitting was for over five hours; this is less than the daily schedule of six hours.
In the 17^th Lok Sabha so far, Lok Sabha has worked for 99% of scheduled time, while Rajya Sabha has worked for 76% of scheduled time.
Note that, scheduled time implies scheduled hours for actual days of sitting.

Many Bills introduced and passed in the same session; few referred to Committees

During this session, 12 Bills were introduced (excluding Appropriation Bills). Ten Bills were passed, of which six had been introduced in this session. These include the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Bills pending from previous sessions that were passed in this session include the Dam Safety Bill, 2019, and the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019.
Four Bills were referred to Committees including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Mediation Bill, 2021. 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.

In the 17^th LS, Lok Sabha passed 35% of Bills in less than 30 minutes

This session, Lok Sabha spent 32% of its sitting time on legislative business, while Rajya Sabha spent 48% of its time. On average, Lok Sabha discussed a Bill for over two and a half hours before passing it, and Rajya Sabha for two hours.
The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was passed on the first day in both Houses in less than 10 minutes without discussion. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed within three hours of its introduction in Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha spent nearly five hours discussing and passing the second supplementary budget (8.6% of the 2021-22 budget estimate).

More Bills passed in 17^th LS, reducing the number of pending Bills

Note: Status of Bills includes Appropriation and Finance Bills.

We look at the legislative business done mid-way through the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Lok Sabhas. The current Lok Sabha has passed more Bills in this time period in comparison to the previous two Lok Sabhas. Note that 69% of the Bills passed in this Lok Sabha were introduced in the same session.
The current Lok Sabha has the lowest number of Bills pending at the mid-way mark. About a third of these Bills were introduced during the 17^th Lok Sabha; the rest were carried forward from the last Parliament.

No questions answered in Rajya Sabha on eight days

Note: Due to COVID-19, the Monsoon Session 2020 did not have Question Hour.

During this session, in Lok Sabha, Question Hour functioned for 66% of the scheduled time and 26% questions were answered orally. On two days, no questions were answered orally in Lok Sabha.
In Rajya Sabha, Question Hour functioned for 38% of the scheduled time and 21% questions were answered orally. On eight days, no questions were answered orally in Rajya Sabha.

Time spent on general discussions increases in Lok Sabha

More than 19 hours in Lok Sabha and one hour in Rajya Sabha were spent on non-legislative debates during this session. The topics discussed include climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Parliament spent 16% of its sitting time on such discussions.
During the session, discussion on COVID-19 was conducted twice. Lok Sabha discussed management of the pandemic, and Rajya Sabha discussed the new variant Omicron. Across both Houses, there have been nine discussions on COVID-19 since the pandemic was declared in March 2020. Note that a discussion on price rise was listed but not conducted in either House.

General discussions in the 17^th Lok Sabha with the highest number of participants

House	Topic	Participants	Time	Session
Lok Sabha	COVID-19 pandemic and various aspects related to it	97	12:27	Winter 2021
Lok Sabha	Discussion on COVID-19 situation in the country	75	05:07	Monsoon 2020
Lok Sabha	Climate change	60	06.26	Winter 2021
Lok Sabha	Discussion on crop loss due to various reasons and its impact on farmers	51	07:22	Winter 2019
Rajya Sabha	Situation arising out of the dangerous levels of air pollution in the country, particularly in Delhi	29	02:58	Winter 2019

Lok Sabha does not have a Deputy Speaker after two and half years

Article 93 of the Constitution states that Lok Sabha will choose two Members of the House to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker at the earliest possible.
In the 17^th Lok Sabha, election for the post of Deputy Speaker has not been conducted after two and a half years since it first convened. There has just been one instance in the past – 269 days during the 12^th Lok Sabha – when it took over three months to elect a Deputy Speaker.

Sources: Bulletins of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as on December 22, 2021; Statistical Handbook, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, 2021; PRS.

DISCLAIMER: This document is being furnished to you for your information. You may choose to reproduce or redistribute this report for non-commercial purposes in part or in full to any other person with due acknowledgement of PRS Legislative Research (“PRS”). The opinions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s). PRS makes every effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but PRS does not represent that the contents of the report are accurate or complete. PRS is an independent, not-for-profit group. This document has been prepared without regard to the objectives or opinions of those who may receive it.

Home

MPs & MLAs

Legislatures

Parliament

State

Bills & Acts

Budgets

Policy

LAMP

Careers

Parliament functioning in Winter Session 2021