How disruptions hurt Parliament's Upper House

While the winter session of Parliament started with controversial debates on intolerance, the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of Parliament) had to be adjourned for the fourth time before lunch due to disruptions caused by the National Herald case.

Our analysis of data show that the Rajya Sabha is struggling to work because of disruptions. During the previous session, the Rajya Sabha worked no more than nine hours over a three-and-half week period, from July 21 to August 13, 2015.

“Governance in India, like Italy and others earlier, is caught in a logjam of far too many checks and not enough balance,” Bijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, Lok Sabha MP from Odisha, wrote recently in a blog in The Times of India.

 

 

Bills In Lok Sabha, Since 1952
	All	Assented	Passed	Pending	Withdrawn	Negatived	Lapsed
All	4216	2246	2423	712	67	13	871
Government	2838	2245	2422	14	47	7	302
Private Member	1377	0	0	698	20	6	569
Bills in Rajya Sabha, Since 1952
	All	Assented	Passed	Pending	Withdrawn	Negative	Lapsed
All	2678	710	762	433	209	34	1078
Government	942	700	749	62	69	0	52
Private Member	1736	10	3	371	140	34	1026

Source: Lok Sabha, Data as compiled on December 3, 2015

 

Regular disruptions in the house are a loss to the exchequer. During the monsoon session earlier this year, the estimated loss was Rs 29,000 per minute, according to an NDTV study.

“What happens when consensus cannot be reached and parties are not willing to soften their stand? Would Parliament not function at all? If the last few years provide any indication, there’s an urgent need to insulate the Parliament’s functioning from the vagaries of the political climate,” Chakshu Roy, head of outreach at PRS Legislative, wrote in the Indian Express recently.

(IndiaSpend is a data-driven, public interest journalism non-profit)