Parliamentary panels' role reduced, functioning at all-time low, data show

The standing committees under the first NDA govt met for 145.5 hours less than the ones under the preceding UPA government

There was not a single meeting of any parliamentary committee in the four months following the national lockdown imposed on March 24, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the 24 departmentally-related standing committees, not one met virtually either during the lockdown. Departmentally-related standing committees are committees with members from both houses of Parliament which deal with expenditure, laws and policies of specific ministries.

The average attendance of every departmentally-related standing committee was 54% in the second session (November-December 2019) and 48% in the third session (January-March 2020) of the 17th Lok