Time lost during 16th Lok Sabha lower than most previous sessions since 1991: Data

By Rajiv Shah
Amidst major hue and cry around “time lost” during the recently-ended Parliament session, with accusations flying high that the tax-payers’ money is being “wasted”, data of Lok Sabha sittings suggest that the last session when the BJP was in opposition saw the highest per cent of time lost since 1991.
The data also show that till the end of the current monsoon of the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19), only 8.77 per cent of the time was actually lost due to interruptions and adjournments, but in sharp contrast, a whopping 39.88 per cent of the time was lost due to interruptions and adjournments during the last 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), when the the UPA-2 ruled, with scandals flying high.
In fact, the time lost during the 16th Lok Sabha considerably less than all previous sessions since 1991, except for the 11th Lok Sabha (1996-98), when it was a meager 5.28 per cent of the total hours for which the session met. Ironically, the BJP was in opposition during the 11th Lok Sabha.
The actual figures further reveal that the current Lok Sabha has so far sat for 610.7 hours, while the time lost was 58.7 hours. During the previous session, the Lok Sabha sat for 1,344.6 hours, while the time lost was 891.9 hours, thanks to the disruptions caused by the BJP.
The previous Lok Sabha sessions’ figures are as follows: During the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96), the time lost was 9.95 per cent. It sat for 2,257 hours, but the time lost was 279.4 hours. At that time, the Congress was in power, while the BJP was in the opposition.

In the 11th Lok Sabha (1996-98), when the United Front was in power and the BJP was in Opposition, the actual time for which the House sat was 813.6 hours, while the time lost was 45.3 hours (5.28 per cent). In the following 12th Lok Sabha (1998-99), when the BJP returned to power, the House sat for 574.9 hours, while the time lost was 68.6 hours (10.66 per cent).
Then, during the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), when the BJP again regained power under AB Vajpayee, the House sat for 1,945.7 hours, and the time lost was 454.6 hours. This was 18.94 per cent of the total time for which the House met. And during the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09), when the Congress-led UPA government came back to power, the House sat for 1736.9 hours, while the time lost was 423 hours (19.58 per cent).
Analyzing the data on the basis figures made available by the Parliament Secretariat,, an online portal comments, “The recently concluded monsoon session of the Parliament was unique for one reason. Members of both the ruling dispensation and the Opposition came onto the roads to protest against one another.”
Though the hours lost due to disruptions and adjournments was considerably less in the current Lok Sabha than the previous ones, the the BJP is guilty of losing highest percentage of time during the previous Lok Sabha, the portal says, “While the BJP accused the Congress of being an obstructionist party, data compiled by the Lok Sabha Secretariat suggests that both the parties are equally guilty of disrupting the proceedings of the house when they were in the Opposition.”