Around 89% of the 2024 union budget was passed without discussion, highlighted in an analysis report by the PRS Legislative Research. The research also highlighted that while the budget of only four ministries was discussed in detail, the duration of general discussion on the budget lasted for more than 27 hours in the Lok Sabha, the highest ever in history.
PRS Legislative Research is a Delhi-based non-profit organisation working to make the Indian legislative process better informed, more transparent and participatory. In its latest report analysing the vital stats of the inaugural and budget sessions of the 18th Lok Sabha, PRS has highlighted that 89% of the 2024 union budget was passed without discussion.
The General Budget discussion, which includes discussion on the expenditure of various ministries, lasted for more than 30 hours in 2024, covering Railways, Health, Education, and Animal Husbandry ministries. Housing and Urban Affairs, Agriculture and Renewable Energy were discussed for a total of 16 hours.
The report also highlighted that in the last 20 years, the budgets of the Health and Education Ministry have been discussed four times each in Lok Sabha. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been discussed the most, eight times in Lok Sabha. Over the last 10 years, more than two-thirds (67%) of the budget has been passed without discussion each year.
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It also highlights that the general discussion on the budget, where MPs discuss the budget provisions and overall government finances, lasted for more than 27 hours in the Lok Sabha. Although, the time spent on the general discussion has declined over the years, the recent budget discussion was the highest discussion ever recorded in history of the Indian Parliament.
Although, it is the sixth year that the Lok Sabha is functioning without a Deputy Speaker, the 18th Lok Sabha functioned for 123% of scheduled time. The inaugural and budget sessions lasted for a total of 22 days in Lok Sabha and 20 days in Rajya Sabha. Across both sessions, Lok Sabha functioned for 123% of its scheduled time and Rajya Sabha for 110%. Lok Sabha met for more than 11 hours on two sitting days. Unfortunately, the Deputy Speaker has not been elected in both the sessions so far even after remaining vacant for the entire duration of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Eleven bills were introduced, which includes the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Oilfields Regulation and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 was passed by Lok Sabha. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced after a two-hour discussion with 20 MPs participating. This Bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for detailed scrutiny.
