About half of the Bills passed so far by the 17th Lok Sabha were cleared after less than two hours of discussion each and only 16% were referred to standing committees, according to an analysis by PRS Legislative Research. According to the analysis, until the Winter Session that ended Thursday, 172 bills were discussed and passed during the term of 17th Lok Sabha. Of these, 86 (48%) were passed by Lok Sabha and 103 (60%) by Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha passed 34 (20%) Bills with two to three hours of discussion each, 28 (16%) with three to four hours of discussion each, and 24 (14%) with more than four hours of discussion each. The Rajya Sabha passed 30 (17%) Bills with two to three hours of discussion each, 22 (13%) Bills with three to four hours of discussion each, and 17 (10%) Bills with more than four hours’ discussion each. “The proportion of Bills referred to Committees has decreased from 71% during the 15th Lok Sabha to 16% during the 17th Lok Sabha,” PRS said, adding no Bill was referred to House Committees in this Winter Session. During the Winter Session, which was adjourned a day ahead of schedule on December 21, 10 Bills were introduced and 17 passed, including the three on the criminal laws, which were discussed for 9 hours and 28 minutes in Lok Sabha and six hours and eight minutes in Rajya Sabha. “(On the criminal law Bills) 34 members participated in the discussion in Lok Sabha, 25 of whom belonged to BJP. In Rajya Sabha, 40 members participated, of which 30 members belonged to BJP,” PRS said.
