For 30 bills, government slotted just 36 hours

NEW DELHI: In what raises questions over the government's seriousness in conducting legislative business, a study by PRS Legislative Research has found that though 30 bills were slotted for discussion in the Lok Sabha over 78 hours this monsoon, the 16-working-days session left scope for discussing them over just 36 hours.


The calculation goes like this: the Lok Sabha sits for an average five hours daily - from 11 am to 5 pm, with an hour's lunch break in between. If question hour and zero hour are excluded, the duration of sittings for legislative business boils down to just three hours. Of the 16 working days in the monsoon session, four were Fridays and set aside for private members' bills. So, practically, the session would have allowed discussions and debates over just 12 days or 36 hours.

Of the 43 bills listed this session, Lok Sabha business advisory committee reports had recommended an allocation of 78 hours for 30 bills. Among these are the Food Security Bill, allocated six hours, and the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, to be debated over four hours. Both represent the UPA's social empowerment or "inclusive" agenda.

"If the Lok Sabha were to discuss and debate the 30 bills for roughly the same time as was recommended by the BAC, they would need a minimum of 20 working days to be able to do so," a PRS representative said.

The mismatch between the allotted time for the session and the allocated time for listed legislative business has left many wondering if the government simply got its math wrong or assumed that some of the bills would not be taken up at all. Observers also did not rule out "smugness" on part of floor managers that some of the bills could be rushed through without a proper discussion.

The monsoon session this year was slotted over just 16 working days, as compared to 19 sittings in 2012 and 26 sittings each in 2011 and 2010. The death of sitting BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo on Wednesday means the Lok Sabha will not function on Monday either.

The session, which began on August 5, has seen disruptions over a host of issues including LoC killings and communal violence in J&K. Not a single bill has been passed so far. With just eight days left for passing Bills, after counting out Fridays, before the session ends on August 30, the government may focus on getting the food security and land acquisition bills passed.