The Question Hour during the Winter Session of the Parliament was “one of the least productive” of the 16th Lok Sabha, think-tank PRS Legislative Research has said.

The Winter Session of the Parliament ended on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Tuesday, while the Rajya Sabha extended by a day and adjourned on Wednesday after passing the upper caste reservation bill.

According to PRS Legislative, Lok Sabha lost a sixth of its time to disruptions, while Rajya Sabha lost a third of its scheduled time. “Compared to the 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas, this Lok Sabha spent more of its productive time on legislative business,” it said. “Over the same time period, time spent on legislation in Rajya Sabha has remained consistent.” Lok Sabha spent 52% and Rajya Sabha spent 44% of its productive time on legislative business, it said.

Members of both Houses protested over several issues, including a demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee inquiry into the Rafale jet deal and the construction of a dam on the Cauvery river.

The Question Hour in Parliament functioned for its entire duration on only two days, the think tank said. In the Lok Sabha, 8% questions were answered orally while 11% were answered orally in the Rajya Sabha.

Sixteen bills were introduced and four bills were passed by both Houses. More bills were introduced and passed in the same session of the Lok Sabha compared to the previous two Lok Sabhas. The percentage of bills referred to standing committees stood at 24% compared to 71% during the 15th Lok Sabha.

Also, 62% bills were discussed for more than two hours. During the previous two Lok Sabhas, only 30% and 44% bills were discussed for more than two hours.