House in overdrive in this session

Sticking to working hrs lifts Parliament's performance for the entire year

Contrary to the general perception that Parliament did not work much during the winter session (November 15 to December 7), all but three Bills that were to be passed during the period were pending when the session ended.

All 17 sittings of the two Houses were held, all 14 Bills that were to be introduced were tabled and while 18 Bills were listed for passing, 15 were passed. The Lok Sabha worked for 90 per cent of the scheduled hours and the Rajya Sabha almost the entire scheduled time.

The first few days witnessed interruptions due to violence in Nandigram. Both the Houses worked long hours on other days to make up for the lost time.

This is an analysis by PRS Legislative Research, a non-government organisation that monitors the performance of the Indian Parliament. PRS notes that this session has uplifted the 2007 performance of Parliament. In the last eight years, it was in 2007 that Parliament worked the least number of days, the least number of total hours and the least number of hours per working day. The working hours in 2007 were 40 per cent less than in 2006.

Least number of Bills were passed this year. Parliament introduced 56 Bills and passed 46 in 2007. This is lower than the figures for 2006: 66 introduced and 65 passed. This year's average working hours has been redeemed by the winter session.

Bills that are pending from the winter session are the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2005; the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005; and the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2007.

Several Bills that were not taken into account and were budgeted for were also passed. These include the Appropriation (No.4) Bill, 2007, the Appropriation (No. 5) Bill, 2007 and the Appropriation (Railways) No. 4 Bill, 2007.

In terms of performance of MPs, PRS research for the Lok Sabha indicates that the old war horses "" MPs aged 56 to 70 ""performed the best (five debates per MP). Younger MPs "" below 40 "" participated in the least number of debates/ three debates per MP. The story was the same in the Rajya Sabha.