Lok Sabha productivity at 15% in Monsoon Session, among lowest in 2 decades: Data

The Monsoon Session ended with the Lok Sabha functioning for just 15 per cent of its scheduled time, according to PRS. The figures place it among the weakest Lok Sabha sessions since 2004 and underline persistent disruption in Parliament.PRS said the Lok Sabha functioned for 15 per cent of its scheduled time in the session, while the Rajya Sabha functioned for 33 per cent. (Photo: PTI)The Lok Sabha recorded one of its lowest productivity levels in more than two decades during the Monsoon session that ended on Thursday, according to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research. Among sessions since 2004, only two had lower functioning, the data showed.PRS said the Lok Sabha functioned for 15 per cent of its scheduled time in the session, while the Rajya Sabha functioned for 33 per cent. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, put the productivity figures at 19 per cent for the Lok Sabha and 39 per cent for the Rajya Sabha.Data from the past 22 years shows sharp swings in parliamentary functioning, from sessions in which the Houses sat well beyond scheduled hours to sessions in which political confrontation took up much of the available time for business.For the Lok Sabha, the session that has just ended ranks among the poorest in this period. At 15 per cent, it matches the Winter session of 2016 and is ahead only of Winter 2010 and Winter 2013, when the House functioned for five per cent and eight per cent of its scheduled time, respectively, according to data shared by PRS with PTI. PRS, an independent, not-for-profit group that researches and tracks the functioning of Parliament and state legislatures, said it calculates House productivity by dividing the actual hours Parliament functioned in a session by the total planned sitting hours for that session. It said the figure can go beyond 100 per cent when a House sits past its scheduled hours. PRS said its historical comparisons use its own dataset to keep a common yardstick across sessions.The worst washout since 2004 came in the Winter session of 2010, when the UPA-II government was in power. The Lok Sabha then functioned for just five per cent of its scheduled time, while the Rajya Sabha functioned for barely two per cent, as the session was stalled by the opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum. The Winter Session of 2013 was another low point. The Lok Sabha functioned for only eight per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha for 19 per cent amid repeated disruptions in the final months of the UPA government over the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and the creation of Telangana, along with protests over coal block allocations.The Budget session of 2014, the last before the general elections that brought the NDA to power, was also marked by low productivity. The Lok Sabha functioned for about 21 per cent of its scheduled time and the Rajya Sabha for 27 per cent amid turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance governed from May 2004 to May 2014, before the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance came to power on May 26, 2014.The Winter session of 2016 brought Lok Sabha productivity down to the same level as the latest session, at 15 per cent, according to PRS. The Rajya Sabha then functioned for 18 per cent of its scheduled time as demonetisation became a major flashpoint between the government and the opposition.At the other end of the scale, the Houses have on several occasions worked beyond their scheduled hours. During the UPA years, Lok Sabha productivity crossed 100 per cent in Winter 2004, Monsoon 2005 and Budget 2009. The Rajya Sabha also crossed 100 per cent in three sessions during that period.Since 2014, Lok Sabha productivity peaked at 148 per cent in the February 2024 Budget session, followed by 145 per cent in Monsoon 2020 and 137 per cent in the 2023 Special session. The Rajya Sabha's highest level in the past 22 years was 137 per cent in the February 2024 Budget session.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 14, 2026 00:01 IST