15th Lok Sabha to end up as worst performing ever

NEW DELHI: In less than a month's time, the 15th Lok Sabha's term will come to an end with the dubious distinction of being the worst performing House since independence, passing the least number of bills (165) in a five-year term.

Of the 126 bills pending in Parliament, 72 are pending in the Lower House which means they will die when the new Lok Sabha is constituted. The remaining 54 bills pending in Rajya Sabha will live to see another day but considering that the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill has been waiting for passage since 1987, there is not much hope for them either.

According to PRS Legislative Research, 39 bills lapsed at the end of the 14th Lok Sabha, 43 after the 13th Lok Sabha, 20 at the end of the short-lived 12th LS while only seven each lapsed after the first and second Lok Sabha. The fifth Lok Sabha was the most enterprising as 482 bills were passed during its term while the 12th Lok Sabha was the worst with only 56 bills passed, although in a truncated tenure.

One of the bills, championed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which will survive but is unlikely to be passed is the 119th Constitution Amendment Bill to implement the Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement. The bill is in Rajya Sabha.

Human resource development ministry, which introduced a slew of legislations during Kapil Sibal's three years at the helm, has 13 bills pending in Parliament. Of these, 11 bills pending in Lok Sabha will become history, taking away the hard work and consulwtation involved in the process. This includes the Higher Education and Research Bill that would have subsumed UGC, All India Council for Technical Education and National Council for Teacher Education; Universities for Research and Innovation Bill which could have facilitated setting up of universities devoted exclusively to research and innovation.
Judicial Appointments Commission Bill and 120th Constitution Amendment Bill that will replace the collegium system of appointment of judges are both awaiting the Rajya Sabha's nod. The two will survive but it remains to be seen if the new government takes them up or puts them on the backburner.