If you filled out a form for your small business this month or checked your bank statement online, you may not realise that Bills passed by Parliament this August could affect both.

Most of us do not follow what happens inside the two Houses every day. But the Monsoon Session is worth a closer look — not just for the protests that dominated the headlines, but also for the legislation that moved through Parliament amid them.

Parliament met for 19 days between 20 July and 13 August. By the time the session ended, 12 Bills had been passed by both Houses, covering areas ranging from exam malpractice and small businesses to banking records, mining and the proposed renaming of Kerala as Keralam.

But how much time did Parliament actually spend discussing them?

Repeated disruptions took a heavy toll on how much work actually got done this session. According to PRS Legislative Research, out of the 110-115 hours the two houses are required to function, the Lok Sabha functioned for just 19% of its scheduled time, while the Rajya Sabha managed 33%. Question Hour bore the brunt of it: the Lok Sabha used only 1% of its allotted Question Hour time, and the Rajya Sabha just 12%.

Opposition protests during the session included demands for discussion on the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, the police action against student protesters and allegations concerning donations to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The disruption did not, however, stop legislation from moving through the Houses.

Of the 12 Bills passed by the Lok Sabha, nine were passed without any MP other than the minister speaking on them. One Bill saw two members speak, while the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill received nearly 11 hours of discussion in the Lok Sabha, with 48 MPs participating. It also received more than six-and-a-half hours of discussion in the Rajya Sabha, with 35 MPs taking part.

Together, the 12 Bills took roughly 33 hours of discussion across both Houses. More than half of that time went to the Public Examinations Bill. The remaining 11 Bills shared the rest.

The contrast is striking: legislation affecting millions of people moved through Parliament even as the Houses spent much of their scheduled time disrupted.

Five Bills worth knowing about

Not every Bill........

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