An overview of Lok Sabha debates from 2004-08

New Delhi: Members of Parliament frame legislation, sanction the government budget, examine the functioning of the government and discuss matters of local, national and international importance.

These debates provide a forum for MPs to express their opinions and concerns, and contribute towards making policy. In this note, we summarise the activity of MPs during debates in the 14th Lok Sabha, which completes its term in a few months.

The Lok Sabha has spent over 1,228 hours in various kinds of debates since 2004.

MPs of the CPI-M were most involved in proceedings in Parliament.

MPs from Western Indian states tend to participate less.

Older MPs were far more active in Parliament than ‘Young’ MPs.

Notes:

• All debates data was compiled from the summaries of daily business of the Lok Sabha as contained in Bulletin I and then supplemented where necessary from the actual text of each day’s debate.
• In our analysis, we do not include proposals and responses by Ministers to various issues.
• The data for party wise distribution of seats is as of the current position in parliament. In computing the zone-wise distribution of seats, the states were allocated in the following manner: North – Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab and Uttarakhand; Central – Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP ; Bengal;; West – Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Gujarat, Maharashtra ; South – Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu; East – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim, Tripura.
• Vacant seats have also been included in the region-wise count.
• Ages of MPs are as of the mid-point of the 14th Lok Sabha (2006).