97 bills get nod during PM Narendra Modi's regime

NEW DELHI: The 16th Lok Sabha has passed 109 bills as on Tuesday while Parliament has passed 97 bills since the budget session of 2014 with the Modi government at the helm. In comparison, Parliament passed 179 bills -116 legislative bills and 63 finance and appropriation bills-during 2009-2014 when UPAII was in power.

On Monday, while responding to the debate on GST in Lok Sabha, PM Narendra Modi said while his government was over 100 weeks old, the lower House had cleared over 100 bills and hit a "century''.

"This is the strength of this House and this is what has given citizens a new confidence,'' he said while extolling the political consensus that was arrived at with all political parties, except AIADMK, expressing support for the 122nd Constitutional Amendment Bill (GST).

Of the bills passed by both Houses were 70 legislative bills and 27 finance and appropriation bills, according to data collected by PRS Legislative Research. Among the highest number of laws passed in the last two years were in the budget session, 2016 when 24 bills were cleared of which 16 were legislative and 8 finance bills. So far in this monsoon session, Parliament has passed 12 bills.

"The number of bills passed by Parliament cannot be the only criteria of its legislative work. What should also be taken into account is the debate and scrutiny that bills receive while being passed by Parliament. Some bills of the 16th Lok Sabha have not been referred to standing committee, and some others have been passed without adequate debate in the house,'' Chakshu Roy , head of outreach at PRS Legislative said hitting a note of caution.

One of the significant bills that was cleared by both Houses with scant discussion was the Lokpal and Lokayukta Amendment Bill. The bill dropped the controversial Section 44 excluding spouse and kids of public servants from disclosure of their wealth.