Parliament Session: 2017

• The proceedings of Parliament in the current session have been regularly disrupted. Last year, demonetisation and other issues derailed the entire Winter Session.
• While disruption of proceedings has been common in recent years, Parliament’s functioning in 2017 was different in some respects. The Houses had a productive Budget Session, and some work could be achieved in the Monsoon Session. State elections delayed the Winter Session.

Important highlights:

• Parliament worked for fewer days than the annual average since 2000. By the end of this month, Parliament would have worked for 57 days, short of the average 70 days during this period. The last time Parliament met for fewer days (in a non-general election year) was in 2008, when it met for 46 days during the 14th Lok Sabha.
• In 2017, Parliament discussed 34% of the government’s expenditure — this was the second highest proportion of total expenditure discussed by Parliament over the last decade.
• There were three key changes in the Budget process: it was presented on February 1 instead of the usual last day of February; the Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget, discontinuing a 92-year-old practice; and the Plan and non-Plan classifications of expenditure were removed.
• The government was successful in getting some key Bills approved by Parliament. Four bills passed in April operationalised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
• In February, a Bill removing the guarantee of the government to honour demonetised currency notes was passed by Lok Sabha. In August, the government was successful in pushing through a Bill empowering the Reserve Bank to give directions to banks for the resolution of their non-performing assets.
• In March, Parliament passed a Bill increasing maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. It also passed a Bill in the same month to protect the rights of persons with mental illness, and promote their access to mental healthcare.
• In April, a legislative proposal pending since 2014, prohibiting discrimination against HIV positive individuals, was passed by both Houses. In the ongoing Winter Session, a bill giving 20 Indian Institutes of Management the power to grant degrees was approved by Parliament.
• However, it was not all smooth sailing for the government in Parliament. The Opposition in Rajya Sabha scored a legislative victory in July when it forced the amendment of a key provision of a Bill giving constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
• A casualty of the disruptions was Question Hour. During the Budget Session, Lok Sabha worked for 108% of its scheduled time, and Rajya Sabha for 86%. During the Monsoon Session, this fell to 67% for Lok Sabha and 72% for Rajya Sabha. In the first week of the Winter Session, this number fell further to approximately 50% and 36% for the two Houses respectively.

By: Vishal