4 years, 10 sessions: A look at disruptions in Parliament during Modi 2.0 government

According to PRS Legislative Research Data, the number of Parliament sittings has halved since the 1950s-60s, and for the last eight consecutive sessions, both Houses of Parliament have been adjourned ahead of their schedule.

We take a look at Parliamentary adjournments in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government returned to power in 2019.

Winter Session 2022 (December 7-23)

The Winter Session of Parliament concluded on December 23 — a week ahead of its schedule amid protests by the Opposition over the clash between India and China troops in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang on December 9.

Hours lost and productivity: Out of the 68.9 hours during which the Lok Sabha functioned, 2.42 hours were lost due to interruptions. The Rajya Sabha functioned for 72 hours, with 1.46 hours lost due to disruptions. According to PRS, Lok Sabha logged productivity of 88%, and Rajya Sabha 94%.

Legislative business: The government planned to introduce 16 Bills in this session, but only seven were introduced. While Lok Sabha passed seven bills, nine were passed by Rajya Sabha.

This is the second least number of sittings in a session during the 17th Lok Sabha term, according to PRS.

Monsoon Session 2022 (July 18-August 8)

The Monsoon Session of Parliament ended on August 8, four days ahead of its schedule. In 16 sittings against the scheduled 18, the Parliament functioned for less than 50% of the allotted time as multiple adjournments disrupted proceedings over several issues, including the suspension of MPs, the alleged misuse of central investigating agencies, and protests over inflation and price rise.

Hours lost & productivity: This session was one of the least productive since 2014. According to PRS, Lok Sabha recorded a productivity of 47% and Rajya Sabha 42%.

Legislative business: The Government planned to introduce 24 new Bills. However, owing to protests, only six bills were introduced and five were passed, PRS data showed.

Budget Session 2022 (January 31- April 7)

The Budget session of Parliament was scheduled to be held from January 31-April 8, 2022, with a recess from February 12-March 13, but was adjourned sine die on April 7, a day ahead of its schedule.

Hours lost and productivity: According to PRS, Lok Sabha functioned for 177 hours and registered a productivity of 129%. The Rajya Sabha discharged business for 127.6 hours and registered a productivity of 99.8%.

Legislative business: According to PRS data, 13 Bills (including Finance and Appropriation Bills) were introduced in this session, and 11 were passed, of which one was pending from the 2021 Winter Session.

Winter Session 2021 (November 29-December 22)

The Winter Session of Parliament began on a stormy note, with the passage of Farm Laws Repeal Bill without any discussion and the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for the rest of the session on the first day. The Parliament adjourned sine die on December 22, a day ahead of schedule. In the 18 sittings in 24 days, the House witnessed protests by the Opposition over a number of issues, including the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the farmers’ demand for a legislation on Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Hours lost and productivity: The Lok Sabha worked for 77% of its scheduled time, while the Rajya Sabha worked for 43%, according to PRS data. The Lok Sabha lost 18 hours and 48 minutes due to interruptions. Rajya Sabha, however, saw more adjournments. Out of a total scheduled sitting time of 95 hours and 6 minutes, the House discharged business only for 45 hours and 6 minutes, a press note from the Rajya Sabha secretariat showed. A total of 49 hours and 32 minutes was lost due to disruptions and adjournments.

Legislative business: The government had listed 26 Bills, however, only 13 were introduced, while 11 were passed, including one Appropriation Bill.

Monsoon Session 2021 (July 19-August 11)

Parliament’s Monsoon Session ended two days ahead of schedule after being regularly disrupted by protests by the Opposition parties over Pegasus row, farm laws, and rise in prices. The Monsoon session of Parliament had 19 sittings scheduled from July 19 to August 13, for both the Lower and the Upper Houses, of which 17 were held.

Hours lost and productivity: According to PRS, the sixth term of the 17th Lower House worked for only 21.3 hours — which is just 21% of the total scheduled time — while losing 77 hours 48 minutes to adjournments, logging the least number of hours of functioning in the entire 10 sessions held since the Modi government returned to power in May 2019. Meanwhile, out of the total 112 hours Rajya Sabha discharged business for only 29 hours – which is 26% of the scheduled time. The productivity logged by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha this session was 21% and 29%, respectively.

Legislative business: Of the 38 Bills pending in Parliament, 17 were introduced and 22, including two Appropriation Bills, were passed.

Budget Session 2021 (January 29-March 25)

The 2021 Budget session was scheduled to be held from January 29- April 8, with a recess period from February 16-March 7. However, both Houses were adjourned sine die on March 25. Due to a rise in Covid cases, the Parliament functioned in two shifts from February 2, with the Rajya Sabha sitting from 10 am to 3 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 5 pm.

Hours lost and productivity: Despite the session being curtailed, there was no loss of working hours for Lok Sabha, with the House sitting till late on multiple days. According to PRS, Rajya Sabha sat for 104.4 hours, registering a productivity of 90%. The total sitting hours for Lok Sabha were 131.8, with a productivity of 107%.

Legislative business: According to PRS, of the 36 pending Bills, 20 were listed for introduction, 30 for passage, and four for withdrawal. A total of 18 Bills were passed by both Houses of Parliament.

The Winter Session of 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

Monsoon Session 2020 (September 14-September 23)

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Monsoon session of Parliament functioned for only 10 days — September 14-23. The session, initially scheduled for October 1, was cut short by eight days because of the public health emergency and several MPs testing positive.

Hours lost and productivity: Despite a curtailed session and early adjournment of the House on certain days, the Lok Sabha worked for 60 hours, including 23 hours of late sittings. The time lost for early adjournments due to disruptions was 3.51 hours, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The Rajya Sabha discharged business for 39.5 hours and Lok Sabha for 58.1 hours, according to PRS. According to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry Annual Report 2020-2021, the time lost due to adjournments was 3 hours 15 minutes.

Legislative business: A total of 46 Bills were pending in the Monsoon session of Parliament. Of these, 23 Bills were listed for introduction, 40 for passage, and six for withdrawal. By the end of the session, the House introduced 22 Bills, passed 27 (including two Appropriation Bills), and withdrew five Bills.

Budget Session 2020 (January 31-March 23)

The Budget Session of Parliament was held for 23 days, from January 31 to March 23, with a recess from February 12 to March 1. Originally planned to have 31 sittings till April 3, the House was adjourned sine die after completing just 23 sittings on March 23 — a day after ‘Janta Curfew’.

Hours lost and productivity: According to PRS, Lok Sabha discharged business for 111.2 hours, registering a productivity of 86%. The Rajya Sabha discharged business for 93.8 hours and registered a productivity of 74%.

Legislative business: As many as 41 Bills were pending before the Session. A total of 19 Bills were introduced, 12 were passed, and two were withdrawn.

Winter Session 2019 (November 18-December 13)

This session of Parliament witnessed uproar over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘rape in India’ remark, and protests in Northeast over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Hours lost and productivity: The Lok Sabha registered a productivity of 111%, and Rajya Sabha 92%, shows PRS data. Over 55 hours (approximately) were spent by both Houses to discuss legislations.

Legislative business: Seventeen bills were introduced and 14 were passed, including one Appropriation Bill. While the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019, and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019, were passed, the Personal Data Protection Bill was sent to a joint parliamentary committee for scrutiny.

Budget Session 2019 (June 17-August 7)

The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha began on June 17 and was scheduled to conclude on July 26, but it was extended till August 7, with the Lok Sabha sitting for 37 days and Rajya Sabha for 35 days.

Hours lost and productivity: According to the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry Annual report 2019-2020, no hours were lost in the entire Lok Sabha session, while Rajya Sabha lost 19 hours 34 minutes. According to PRS, the Lok Sabha worked for 280.7 hours, and Rajya Sabha for 195.5 hours. The productivity of this Lok Sabha session was clocked at 135% and of Rajya Sabha at 100%.

Legislative business: A total of 33 Bills were pending before the session. By the end of the session, 40 bills were introduced and 30 were passed by both Houses of the Parliament.