In numbers | The washout of Parliament's budget session

The current 17th Lok Sabha could be the shortest full term Lok Sabha since 1952, according to a report by PRS Legislative Research.

Indian Parliament’s budget session which ended on April 6 was marred by protests.

First, by the Opposition benches which were demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe against the Adani group after the port-to-power conglomerate's case shares collapsed in the aftermath of a short-sellers report.

And then from the treasury benches, which sought an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments about Indian democracy during a visit to the UK.

With both sides digging in, the budget was passed amid disruptions and precious little other legislative business could be taken up.

According to the parliamentary affairs ministry, the Lok Sabha recorded a productivity of 34 percent and the Rajya Sabha 24 percent during the budget session.

While the lower house functioned for 46 hours, the upper house worked for only 32 hours, according to non-profit PRS Legislative Research.

Sixth shortest budget session

The session was the sixth shortest budget session since 1952. The Lok Sabha spent 18 hours on financial business, of which 16 hours were spent on the general discussion of the budget.

In the previous budget sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, financial business was discussed for 55 hours on average, PRS Legislative said.

The expenditure of five ministries, listed for discussion in the lower house, was not discussed. The proposed expenditure of all ministries, amounting to Rs 42 lakh crore, was passed without any discussion.

In the last seven years, on average, 79 percent of the budget has been passed without discussion, the research house said.

The passing of the budget involves a grouping of legislative businesses like debates and clearing of bills. In the last seven years, 79 percent of this process has been cleared by the Lok Sabha without a discussion.

The upper house, which discusses the working of select ministries in the budget session, also could not take any up.

Shortest full Lok Sabha since 1952

The current 17th Lok Sabha could be the shortest full-term Lok Sabha since 1952, a report by PRS Legislative Research says.

“Entering the final year of its term, the 17th Lok Sabha has functioned for 230 sitting days so far. Of all the Lok Sabhas that completed the full five-year term, the 16th Lok Sabha had the lowest sitting days (331),” the research body said.

“With one more year remaining in the term, and 58 average sitting days a year, the 17th Lok Sabha is unlikely to sit for more than 331 days.”

Question mark on question hour, private members’ bills

The budget session witnessed the least amount of time spent on questions in the current Lok Sabha. Question Hour functioned for 19 percent of scheduled time in Lok Sabha and 9 percent in Rajya Sabha.

Only about 7 percent of starred questions were answered in each house. No private member bills were introduced or discussed, the report said.