Rajya Sabha logs 50% productivity in winter, Lok Sabha way ahead at 102%

NEW DELHI: The winter session of Parliament that ended on Wednesday once again reflected how the productivity of Rajya Sabha, where proceedings were marked by frequent disruptions, remained just about 50%, prompting its chairman Hamid Ansari to lament that the record belied the House's commitment to the principles of the Constitution "in good measure".

As compared to Rajya Sabha's 50% in the just concluded winter session, Lok Sabha logged productivity of 102% with the Lower House passing more bills and spending more time in debating those legislations.

Ever since the BJP-led NDA came to power, the opposition-controlled Rajya Sabha has been consistently lagging behind Lok Sabha in the past four sessions. The stark difference between the two Houses in the last two sessions could not spare the elders from getting a strong reaction from Ansari who asked them to introspect and desist from "demeaning the stature" of the Upper House.

Similar figures appeared during the Monsoon session (July-August) during which Rajya Sabha had registered a virtual washout, seen as its worst performance (9%). Though the winter session was slightly better, the Upper House could not make up for the loss.




"Over the years, the productivity of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has been similar, with a few instances of one House performing marginally better than the other. However, in the last four sessions, the average productivity of Lok Sabha has been 97% and the average productivity of Rajya Sabha has been 62%," said the PRS Legislative Research in its analysis soon after the session ended.

The productivity gap between the Houses appeared to be getting pronounced since last year's winter session when Lok Sabha's overall productivity was 98% as compared to 59% of Rajya Sabha. This year's budget session was an exception with both Houses performing well.

An upset Ansari said the interruptions in the functioning of the House were "sought to be justified by specious logic by different sections of the House at different times to suit their tactics of the moment" leading to loss of working time and neglect of listed business.

Considering the prevailing political matrix of the country, it is seen as highly unlikely that the same party will have majority in both Houses, at least in the foreseeable future. In such a situation, political observers fear the nation could stare at a 'legislative shutdown' if the current trend continues.

The PRS Legislative Research noted that the majority of the productive time during the winter session was spent on non-legislative business, which included discussions on issues related to price rise, drought and floods, and a two-day special sitting on reaffirming commitment to the principles and ideals of the Constitution.



The session, which began on November 26, had 20 sittings in all out of which the Upper House lost more than 47 hours on issues like Congress MP Kumari Selja's remark on being asked about her caste at a temple in Gujarat, alleged anti-Dalit remarks of Union minister general (retired) V K Singh, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's reported comments on Ram Temple in Ayodhya, court summons to Cong chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul in the National Herald case, role of Arunachal Pradesh Governor in summoning the Assembly without the approval of the state cabinet and alleged irregularities in Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA).

The Lok Sabha, in contrast, lost only 8 hours and 37 minutes due to interruptions followed by forced adjournments. But it could later compensate for the time lost to some extent by sitting late for 17 hours and 10 minutes.

The extra work by sitting late was reflected in the kind of business done by the lower house where the government could get 13 bills passed and introduced nine. Rajya Sabha, on the other hand, could pass just nine bills of which seven were not even discussed.

Rajya Sabha could not clear the pending GST bill, the landmark tax reform legislation, which was seen as the biggest casualty of the disruptions. Main opposition Congress steadfastly maintained its opposition to the legislation mooted during the UPA regime.

It was only on Tuesday and on the back of the public outrage over the release of the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case that most parties, including Congress and Samajwadi Party, came together in the Upper House to pass the Juvenile Justice Bill.

The law brings down the age from 18 years to 16 years for a juvenile to be tried as an adult in cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder.