Analysis Of Sansad TV Discussion:
”Productivity Of the Budget Session Of Parliament”

Relevance

”GS 2: Parliament, Indian Constitution”

Context

• The Budget Session of Parliament concluded on April 07, 2022, a day ahead of schedule with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die.

Timeline of the Budget Session

• Held in two parts, the Budget session had begun on 31st January with the address of President Ram Nath Kovind to the joint sitting of both the Houses.
• It was followed by the presentation of the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February.
• Ahead of this phase of the session results of five state assembly polls were also declared, allowing members enough time to participate in the parliamentary debates.
• The Budget Session ended a day ahead of schedule with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha yielding good productivity with fewer disruptions , barring the ones caused by fuel price-hike protests by the opposition.

Two Parts Session

• The first part concluded on 11th February when Parliament went into recess to examine the budget papers.
• The second part commenced on 14th March and concluded on 7th April – a day ahead of schedule after the completion of the budgetary process.

How was the Productivity?

Lok Sabha

• The total productivity of the eighth session of the 17th Lok Sabha was 129% as it sat late for 40 hours and discussed important issues.
• In 27 sittings which lasted for about 177 hours 50 minutes, Lok Sabha passed 12 bills, including the Finance Bill, Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill and the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill , 2022, that allowed collection of biological samples of convicted, arrested and detained persons.
• The General Discussion on the Union Budget for the year 2022-23 was held on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th of February 2022. The discussion lasted for 15 hours and 35 minutes.

Rajya Sabha

• The Upper House recorded productivity 99.8% during the Budget Session.
• The Rajya Sabha lost nearly nine-and-a-half hours due to disruptions and forced adjournments, but made up for the lost time by sitting extra for nine hours and 16 minutes.

Conclusion

Parliament proceedings are a matter of national importance and its success or failure should not be judged solely in quantitative terms. There’s a need to examine it from a qualitative standpoint as well. For instance, a Bill might require detailed discussions and, if need be, sent to a committee for more scrutiny and value addition. Unnecessary haste in such situations is more harmful than helpful.