The 17th Lok Sabha is likely to be the shortest since 1952

Source: The post is based on the article “The 17th Lok Sabha is likely to be the shortest since 1952” published in The Hindu on 12th April 2023

What is the News?

The 17th Lok Sabha which is entering its final year will likely become the shortest full-term Lok Sabha since 1952.

How much has the 17th Lok Sabha functioned so far?

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 number of sitting days (331). 

With one more year remaining, and 58 average sitting days a year, the 17th Lok Sabha is unlikely to sit for more than 331 days. This could make it the shortest full-term Lok Sabha since 1952.

About the Latest Budget session of the 17th Lok Sabha

The latest Budget 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. 

Debates in Parliament reducing in the 17th Lok Sabha

The Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address was the only item discussed in this session. It was discussed for about 28 hours in both Houses, with 150 members participating in total.

The Rules of Procedure of both Houses of Parliament provide for various devices which can be used to draw attention to matters of public importance and hold the government accountable. 

These include half-an-hour discussions, short-duration discussions, and adjournment motions. In the 17th Lok Sabha, only 11 short-duration discussions and one half-an-hour discussion have been held so far. None of these was held in the latest session.