Parliamentary standing committees that scrutinise Bills get less to do

The 17th Lok Sabha has the worst record compared to the previous three Houses in referring legislation to the institution framework

The 17th Lok Sabha will be the shortest since 1952 and has, until now, the worst record compared to the previous three Houses in referring Bills to parliamentary standing committees.

Only 17.6 per cent of the 210 Bills taken up until now in the 17th Lok Sabha have been referred to parliamentary standing committees, compared to 25 per cent in the 16th Lok Sabha, 71 per cent in the 15th and 60 per cent in the 14th Lok Sabha, according to data collated by PRS Legislative Research.

Moreover, the number of Bills introduced and passed in the same session, without being thoroughly discussed either on the floor of Parliament or referred to parliamentary standing committees, has increased sharply: From 17.5 per cent in the 15th to 33.3 per cent in the 16th and a whopping 58.2 per cent in the current Lok Sabha.

Total bills introduced and passed in the same session

	15th Lok Sabha	16th Lok Sabha	17th Lok Sabha
Bills introduced	217	189	175
Bills passed in the same session by both Houses	38	63	102
Percentage	17.5%	33.3%	58.2%

Source: PRS Legislative Research

Parliamentary standing committees were put in place in 1993 to allow for better scrutiny of Bills, allowing members to consult and question stakeholders on issues of public importance. The institution of standing committees worked well even when the proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament did not.

When it was dissolved in February 2014, the 15th Lok Sabha had the worst productivity of the previous 50 years. Disruptions over the organisation of the Commonwealth Games, allocation of 2G spectrum and coal blocks, foreign investment in retail, and demand for Telangana state were the highlights of the 15th Lok Sabha, the second term of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government (2009-14), noted PRS Legislative Research in its performance review of that House.

But the 15th Lok Sabha performed well in one respect: The scrutiny of Bills by parliamentary standing committees. It sent 71 per cent of the 328 Bills it took up for consideration and passing to be scrutinised by parliamentary standing committees, eventually passing 179 Bills during its five-year tenure. That was the least number of Bills passed by a full five-year term Lok Sabha. In comparison, the 13th (1999-2004) and 14th (2004-2009) Lok Sabhas passed 297 and 248 Bills, respectively.

However, the subsequent 16th Lok Sabha did worse, and the productivity of the current 17th Lok Sabha has dipped further. The 16th Lok Sabha referred 25 per cent of the Bills to committees, much lower than 71 per cent and 60 per cent in the 15th and 14th Lok Sabha, respectively, PRS Legislative Research data suggests.

The practice of referring Bills to committees has further declined in the 17th Lok Sabha, with only 37, or 17.6 per cent, of the 210 Bills it has taken up for consideration and passing sent to parliamentary standing committees, the lowest percentage of the last three Lok Sabhas. Of the 25 Bills introduced in the monsoon session, only three, introduced on its last day by Home Minister Amit Shah, were referred to committees.

When its monsoon session concluded earlier this month on August 11, the 17th Lok Sabha had 247 sitting days. It could add another 30-odd sitting days in its winter and a truncated session in February when the government would present its interim budget. With nearly 280 sitting days, it is set to be the shortest full-term Lok Sabha since 1952. Of the Lok Sabhas that completed full five-year terms, the 16th had the lowest sitting days (331), according to the PRS Legislative Research data.

According to a Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs handbook published in 2016, the first Lok Sabha (1952-57) passed 333 Bills in its five-year tenure, the second 327, the third 272 and the fourth passed 216 Bills. The fifth Lok Sabha, from 1971 to 1977, passed a staggering 482 Bills.