New Delhi: The number of sittings of Parliament has gone down annually, from 135 days in the first Lok Sabha to 55 days now, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien said on Saturday, February 8.
O’Brien introduced a private member’s bill in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, seeking at least 100 days of sittings in Parliament and a fixed calendar for this.
“The number of days Parliament sits annually has gone down from 135 days in the first Lok Sabha to 55 days now,” O’Brien, the Parliamentary Party leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha, said in a post on X.
“Introduced a Private Member’s Bill to seek a minimum 100 days of sittings in Parliament and have a fixed parliamentary calendar,” he added.
Bill seeking minimum 100 days of parliamentary sittings
O’Brien introduced the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (amendment of article 85) on Friday, seeking a minimum of 100 days of sittings in Parliament and to have a fixed calendar.
Introducing the bill, the TMC MP said this is important to uphold the integrity of representative democracy.
Manoj Kumar Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also introduced the Parliament (Productivity Enhancement) Bill, 2024 in the Upper House on Friday, seeking at least 120 days of sittings of Parliament every year.
According to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, the first Lok Sabha had 677 sittings over its five-year tenure, an average of 135.4 days every year. The second Lok Sabha had 581 sittings, around 116.2 days per year.
The number of sittings came down to 423 days in the 10th Lok Sabha, around 84.6 days per year, and under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the 13th Lok Sabha had 356 sittings in five years, around 71.2 days per year.
The number of sittings was 332 days in the 14th Lok Sabha, 356 in the 15th Lok Sabha and the 16th Lok Sabha, under the Narendra Modi-led government, had 331 sittings.
The 17th Lok Sabha had 274 days of sittings. Only four previous Lok Sabhas have had fewer sittings, all of which were dissolved before completing the five-year term, according to the data.
The fewest sittings in the 17th Lok Sabha were held in 2020 (33 days) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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