According to data collated by PRS Legislative Research, the Lok Sabha met for 60 per cent of the scheduled time for the Budget session, and the Rajya Sabha for 56 per cent. Of the 19 days originally scheduled, the Lok Sabha met for less than one hour on 10 days, and the Rajya Sabha on 9 days. The first week was stalled by protests over the issue of Quattrocchi's detention in Argentina "" the work done was primarily the President's Address and the Railway and General Budget speeches. Once this got resolved, the Lok Sabha got adjourned on account of the assassination of the Jharkhand MP Sunil Mahato. Following a week of full working hours, the last few days were lost due to protests on the Nandigram issue. The Lok Sabha adjourned for the recess, a day ahead of schedule, while Rajya Sabha met for just 19 minutes on the last day. The only Bills to be passed, other than the appropriation Bills, were those related to four ordinances, a Bill to extend NREGS to Jammu and Kashmir, and one to lower CST from 4% to 3%. Most of these Bills were passed without any debate; indeed on March 19 in the Rajya Sabha, four Bills were passed within seven minutes, and the next day two Bills within a minute. By way of contrast, in the last Budget session, apart from Budget-related bills, another 20 were passed. The second half of the session has been rescheduled to begin on April 26.
