'Most productive monsoon session of Parliament since 2000'

The Monsoon session of Parliament, which concluded on Friday, was the "most productive" such session since 2000, with the House working 110 per cent of its scheduled time.

According to PRS Legislative, which tracks the work of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha spent the highest portion of their time on legislative business, which is second-highest since 2004.

"It was the most productive monsoon session for Lok Sabha since 2000," a PRS Legislative release said.

It said the Lok Sabha worked for 110 per cent of the scheduled hours while the Rajya Sabha for 66 per cent.

It also said this time, about 999 Private Member Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha, which is highest since 2000.

It said 20 bills were introduced during the session and 11 were passed.

PRS Legislative said only 26 per cent bills were referred to the Parliamentary Committees by the present Lok Sabha compared to previous Lok Sabha which referred 71 per cent Bills to various house panels.

"In the 16th Lok Sabha, the highest number of government Bills were introduced by the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare," it added.

New Delhi-based PRS Legislative is an independent non-profit organisation research institute that aims to make the Indian legislative process better informed and more participatory.

The release said the session also saw one of the most productive Question Hours of the present Lok Sabha.

"Lok Sabha functioned for 84 per cent of its scheduled Question Hour time," it said, adding that the Rajya Sabha functioned for 68 per cent of its scheduled Question Hour time.

It noted that both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha spent the highest portion of their time on legislative business -- 50 per cent and 48 per cent, respectively.

The monsoon session of Parliament, began on July 18 and had 17 sittings.

--IANS

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