Steady decline in parliament’s work hours: Study
November 28th, 2011 - 11:09 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) There has been a steady decline in the productive time of Lok Sabha over the last 25 years, with the 15th Lok Sabha sitting only for 72 per cent of its work hours and entering history books as the most disrupted, says a parliamentary policy study group.
“A look at the number of hours that the Lok sabha has been meeting over the last 25 years indicates a steady decline in productive time. Further, at its current pace, the 15th Lok Sabha may be the most disrupted in the 25 year period,” the PRS Legislative Research said in its analysis released Monday.
Parliament started is second week of the monsoon session Monday with noisy scenes by several political party members in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to protest the central cabinet’s decision to allow 51 percent foreign direct investment in retail sector, leading to adjournment of the two houses without transacting much business.
Meanwhile, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2011 was introduced in Lok Sabha Monday.
“In terms of legislation, 57 of the 200 bills planned have been passed since the beginning of the 15th Lok Sabha. At least 17 percent of the bills passed till the end of the monsoon session this year, were debated for less then 5 minutes,” the study from PRS Legislative Research said.
Of the 1,110 hours that were available for the 15th Lok Sabha since its constitution in May 2009, only about 799 hours of sitting of the house took place, resulting in only 72 percent of usage of time for productive work, the study pointed out.
According to PRS Legislative Research, the 14th Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 had productive time of 87 percent, 13th Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2004 utilised 91 percent of its available work hours, the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998-99 used 109 percent of its available work hours, while the 11th Lok Sabha and 10th Lok Sabha utilised over 100 per cent of its time.
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Tags: 14th lok sabha, adjournment, amendment bill, cable television networks, constitution, foreign direct investment, history books, legislative research, monsoon session, New Delhi, noisy scenes, pace, parliament, political party members, productive time, productive work, rajya sabha, retail sector, steady decline, study group