Minimum sitting days
Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Minimum sitting days is a reform idea. It would fix by law or rule how many days a year each House must meet. The Constitution only says the gap between two sessions cannot be more than six months (Art. 85(1)). It sets no minimum number of days. Sittings have fallen sharply over the decades. The NCRWC (2002) proposed at least 120 sitting days a year for the Lok Sabha and 100 for the Rajya Sabha, along with a fixed annual calendar. More sittings would give more time to examine bills, budgets and the government.
Example
The 1st Lok Sabha sat for 677 days. The 17th Lok Sabha sat for only 274.
Don't confuse with
- Six-month rule (Art. 85(1)): this only stops the gap between sessions from going over six months. It does not set how many days Parliament must sit.
- Quorum (Art. 100(3)): this is the minimum number of members present (one-tenth) for a sitting to go on. It says nothing about how many days the House meets.