Shashi Tharoor recently slammed the government for “scrubbing" the private members’ business from the Lok Sabha. The Thiruvananthapuram MP, in a post on social media platform X, alleged that there has been no private members’ business in the House since July 2024. He wondered whether Parliament exists to pursue its own agenda.

A perusal of the Annual Report 2024-25 of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs shows that whereas 65 Private Members’ Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha, and 40 in the Rajya Sabha between January 1 and December 31, 2024, only one Bill was taken up in each House of Parliament for second reading (i.e. detailed discussion). While the Lok Sabha discussed the Commission for Regulation and Development of Information Technology Industry Bill, 2024, introduced by C.N. Annadurai on August 9, 2024, the Rajya Sabha discussed a Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (amendment of Article 16) by Javed Ali Khan on July 27, 2024. The discussions were not completed in either case.

Admittedly, the figures do not compare favourably with those of the previous years. However, private members’ business has always been the Cinderella of Parliamentary activity. Private Members refer to those Members of Parliament who are not members of the Council of Ministers. They could be from any political party, nominated, or independent. Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha permit them to raise matters of urgent public importance and ventilate grievances of the public through instruments such as Calling Attention Motion, Short Duration Discussion, No-Day-yet Named Motion, Censure Motion, No Confidence Motion in the Councils of Ministers, and half-an-hour discussion besides Private Members’ Bills and Resolution. They also put questions – unstarred and starred – to the ministers concerned.

While most of these privileges could be exercised on all working days in Parliament as part of the normal routine, the Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions are taken up once a week. The last two-and-a-half hours of sitting on Friday, and if Friday happens to be a holiday, then any other day in the week, are allotted for the transaction of Private Members’ Business. Tharoor was referring to this weekly slot in particular.

If a Private Members’ Bill succeeds in one House, the government is free to introduce it as a government Bill in another House. This was what happened with the Parliamentary Proceedings (Protection of Publication) Bill, 1956, introduced by Feroze Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. On the other hand, the government could bring a fresh legislative proposal. This was what happened in the case of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, where the government brought a fresh Bill although the Tiruchi Siva’s Right to Transgender Person Bill, 2014, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on April 25, 2015 and introduced in the Lok Sabha as a Private Members’ Bill on February 26, 2016 by Baijayant Panda.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2021 (as per the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Annual Report 2021-22), only two Private Members’ Bills were discussed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on one working day each. While only one Private Members’ Resolution was considered by Lok Sabha for two days, the Rajya Sabha had no event to cite in this category. The situation was comparatively better towards the beginning of the Modi government. During 2015, the Lok Sabha discussed two Private Members’ Bills over six Friday afternoon sittings, whereas the Rajya Sabha considered six Private Members’ Bills over 10 Friday afternoon sittings; and one of the Bills, viz. The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill by Tiruchi Siva, was passed. During the corresponding period, the Lok Sabha discussed three Private Members’ Resolutions over........

© News18