Om Birla recalls his 4-year journey as Lok Sabha Speaker

New Delhi: On the successful completion of four years of his tenure, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday said that 93.09 per cent of the work has been done in the House during the 11 sessions of Parliament.

Birla said that the four years of the 17th Lok Sabha saw record productivity and attendance.

Taking to Twitter, Birla compared the performance of the present Lok Sabha with that of the previous Lok Sabha.

"Productivity of the first 11 sessions of 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2023 was 82.81, 67, 88.63 and 93.09 per cent respectively."

Birla said, "In order to make the House a powerful medium of expression of public sentiments, efforts were made to provide adequate opportunities to all the MPs to present their opinion. Be it discussion on Bills or Zero Hour, more members expressed their views than before."

Giving information about the work in the House, he said, "During the last four years, with the active efforts of the members and the cooperation of the government, we were able to ensure the accountability of the executive. Under rule 377, there has been an increase in the replies received from the government. More questions were answered orally during the Question Hour."

Birla said, "The first four years of the 17th Lok Sabha were also remarkable from the point of view of legislative work. In the last 11 sessions, a total of 162 bills were introduced and 169 bills were passed."

The Lok Sabha Speaker, while presenting the figures of discussion during Zero Hour, said that 2,628 topics were discussed during Zero Hour in the 14th Lok Sabha, 2,608 topics in the 15th Lok Sabha and 5,214 topics in the 16th Lok Sabha. During the four years of the current Lok Sabha, about 5,253 subjects were discussed in the house.

"In the 14th Lok Sabha, a total of 1,450 members attended the discussion on all Bills, but in the current 17th Lok Sabha, 2,405 members attended the discussion on the Bills," he said.

Stating that women should also get more opportunities, the Speaker said that in the last four years, 367 women members participated in the discussions on Bills. Whereas the number was 103 in the 14th Lok Sabha, 102 in the 15th and 153 in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Birla said, "During the last four years as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, active cooperation was received from the Prime Minister, leaders of all parties and MPs of the House."

Referring to the new Parliament building, he said, "The new building of Parliament was dedicated to the people of the country during the 17th Lok Sabha. This new building is a symbol of the potential and capabilities of emerging India, which will become a catalyst to build a developed India by 2047. The glorious traditions of the country have also been revived in this building."