Amid thousands of CJP protesters taking to the streets demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the Monsoon Session of Parliament has unfolded amid protests, disruptions and repeated adjournments. Five days into the session, both Houses have seen little productive business, with political clashes taking precedence over legislative work.
But here is a question worth asking: do you know how much every minute of running Parliament costs the taxpayers?
The answer: approximately Rs 2.5 lakh per minute.
Yes, every minute that Parliament functions during a session comes at a cost of around Rs 2.5 lakh to taxpayers.
“In one year, Parliament runs for around 80 days during sessions. Each day, business in both Houses is conducted for approximately six hours. If we consider the total annual expenditure on Parliament, each minute of running the House costs Rs 2.5 lakh,” former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had said in 2012.
The ongoing Monsoon Session began on Monday, July 20, and has been dominated by a political standoff over demands for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged examination irregularities and the NEET paper leak controversy.
The deadlock has been more visible in the Lok Sabha, where opposition protests have repeatedly disrupted proceedings.
On the first day of the session, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led the ‘Chalo Sansad March’, demanding Pradhan’s resignation. Around 50,000 protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar as part of the demonstration.
As CJP supporters marched towards Parliament on Monday, clashes with police and the detention of protesters brought back memories of some of Delhi’s largest public demonstrations in recent years, when thousands took to the streets to demand accountability.
Fifth day of Monsoon Session: Parliament loses more time
The fifth day of the Monsoon Session continued the trend of disruptions. Proceedings in both Houses were affected by protests, with the Lok Sabha being adjourned for the day within an hour of the House meeting.
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned amid protests and scheduled to resume at 2 pm. The repeated disruptions have further reduced the productive time available for parliamentary business.
With every minute of parliamentary functioning estimated to cost Rs 2.5 lakh, continued disruptions have also raised questions about the financial cost of stalled proceedings.
After five working days of the monsoon session, each house was expected to complete around 30 hours of scheduled hours but has not even completed even 10 hours. However, repeated protests, adjournments and disruptions have resulted in a significant loss of parliamentary time.