Lok Sabha functioned for 45 hours, Rajya Sabha 31 hours : Think tank data on Budget Session

Parliament could function much less than the planned duration with daily protests and frequent adjournments disrupting the second half of the Budget Session, data compiled by a think tank showed.

According to it, the Lok Sabha functioned for over 45 hours against a scheduled duration of 133.6 hours while the Rajya Sabha worked for over 31 hours out of 130 hours.

This translates to Lok Sabha functioning for around 34.28 per cent of its scheduled duration and 24 per cent for the Rajya Sabha, the PRS Legislative Research said.

Both Houses witnessed repeated adjournments of the Question Hour throughout the Session. The Lok Sabha could take questions for 4.32 hours while the figure for Rajya Sabha was worse at 1.85 hours for the entire Budget Session. In his concluding remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the House held discussions on the General Budget for 14.45 hours, and 145 MPs participated in it.

Discussions on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address were held for 13 hours and 44 minutes with the participation of 143 MPs. In the Lok Sabha, eight government bills were introduced and six were passed, while 29 questions were answered orally, Birla said.