In sharp contrast to the winter session last year, the just concluded Lok Sabha session (ninth) has been one of the most productive ones of the current House.

There was a flurry of legislative activity going by the 27 Government Bills introduced in a span of 40 days, in which only 24 sittings could actually be held.

As many as 18 Government Bills were passed in the Lower House in the ninth session that commenced on November 22 and ended today. Among the several Bills passed was the historic Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill. This session also saw a Constitutional Amendment Bill defeated; this could have accorded constitutional status to Lokpal.

This is being seen as one of the most productive sessions of Lok Sabha on the legislative front over the last one year. The last time this level of legislative activity was seen only in during the Budget session of 2010.

A series of scams including the 2G spectrum scam and the Commonwealth Games scam had dented public confidence in the governance capabilities of the UPA Government. In the last year's winter session (sixth session), which was dubbed a “washout” over the Opposition's demand for JPC probe into 2G scam, only ten Government Bills were introduced and six passed. The total number of days of session was 35 and the number of hours of sitting was only 7 hours and 35 minutes although the number of actual days of sitting was 23.

The number of actual days of sitting in the latest session (ninth) was 24 and the total number of sitting hours was 82 hours and 45 minutes. The time lost due to interruptions/forced adjournments was 76 hours and 21 minutes, lower than the 124 hours 40 minutes lost in last year's winter session. Another interesting aspect is that the Lok Sabha did not sit late on any of the days in the last year's session to complete any listed business, while in the latest session, it sat late for 22 hours and 12 minutes.

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