Revamp functioning of Parliament

1. At a Glance

• Core argument: India's coming delimitation debate looks like simple arithmetic: if one MP represents too many citizens, add more MPs. But adding seats without fixing how Parliament works can leave MPs with less real voice [1].
• Two layers of representation: (i) the voter's access to their MP; (ii) the MP's ability to speak for constituents on the floor of the House. The second layer depends on how much floor time each MP actually gets [1].
• Central claim: if Parliament's operational timetable stays fixed, adding more lawmakers dilutes each member's ability to participate in legislative business [1].
• UPSC value: this links delimitation and seat expansion (Polity) with parliamentary effectiveness, deliberation and accountability (GS-II). It is a strong candidate for a Mains question in 2026–27.

2. Why in the News

• The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 were introduced together. They provide for raising the Lok Sabha's strength from 550 to 850 members [1].
• An Op-Ed titled "Revamp functioning of Parliament" appeared in The Hindu (Chennai edition, p. 13, 19 October 2026). It was written by Atharva Deshmukh and Mehul Chhabra, Policy Researchers and LAMP Fellows (2024–25) [1].
• It argues that seat expansion has to come with reforms that strengthen MPs' functional capacity [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• Size of the problem: the Election Commission's 2024 Atlas records an electoral roll of 97.98 crore voters across 543 Lok Sabha constituencies. That is roughly 18 lakh voters per constituency, which shows the load on each MP [1].
• The article notes that this average hides wide differences between constituencies [1].
• Constitutional background (standard text, not retrieved this session — verify before use):
• Article 81 sets the Lok Sabha's composition and its current cap of 550.
• Article 82 requires readjustment of seats after each Census.
• The 42nd Amendment (1976) froze seat allocation on the basis of the 1971 Census.
• The 84th Amendment (2001) extended the freeze until the first Census after 2026.
• Previous Delimitation Commissions were set up under Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.

4. Core Static Facts

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Legal / Constitutional

• Expanding the House needs a constitutional amendment, here the 131st Amendment Bill, alongside an ordinary Delimitation Bill [1].
• Representation is not only about how many seats exist. It also needs the institutional space for elected members to speak [1].

Governance / Institutional

• The authors propose that parliamentary procedure and sitting time be revamped together with seat expansion. Otherwise representatives will be "muted on the floor" [1].
• Floor time is limited. More members competing for Question Hour, Zero Hour and debate slots within the same calendar means fewer chances for each MP to intervene (an inference from [1]).

Social / Federal

• Diverse democracy: representation has to give voice to India's many regional and social constituencies, not just shorten the distance between voter and MP [1].
• Unequal constituency sizes hidden behind the ~18-lakh average [1] raise the federal question of how seats are shared between high-growth and low-growth States. This is the core of the delimitation controversy.

Administrative

• The Lok Sabha would have to handle a much larger House (850 members) [1]. That has knock-on effects for committee composition, seating and the Speaker's management of the House (an inference).

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 2024: the ECI Atlas records 97.98 crore electors across 543 constituencies [1].
• 2026: the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill, 2026 are introduced together, proposing a Lok Sabha of 850 [1].
• 19 Oct 2026: The Hindu Op-Ed by LAMP Fellows calls for revamping how Parliament functions alongside delimitation [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• Proposed new Lok Sabha strength: 850 members [1].
• The current constitutional ceiling being raised is 550 [1].
• Amendment vehicle: Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill [1].
• Companion statute: Delimitation Bill, 2026. The two were introduced jointly [1].
• Electoral roll per the ECI 2024 Atlas: 97.98 crore voters [1].
• Number of Lok Sabha constituencies in 2024: 543 [1].
• Average electors per Lok Sabha constituency: ~18 lakh [1].
• LAMP Fellowship = Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament. It is run by PRS Legislative Research (general knowledge, not retrieved this session).
• (Verify) Article 82: seats are readjusted after every Census. The freeze was extended by the 84th Amendment, 2001.

8. Check First: The 2026 Bill Was Voted Down

• The note treats the 131st Amendment Bill as live. PRS records that it failed.
• PRS's bill tracker says the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill was voted down in the Lok Sabha [7].
• Because of that, the two related Bills became infructuous (they no longer had any purpose) and were never taken up [7].

• So read the Op-Ed as an argument about the next attempt to expand the House, not about a Bill that is still moving.

• What the failed Bill actually proposed matters for the exam

• It would have removed the seat freeze that traces back to the 1976 and 2001 Amendments [5].
• It would have brought back the old rule that every Lok Sabha constituency has roughly the same population [5].

• The cap of 850 seats was split as up to 815 from States and up to 35 from Union Territories [6].

• The timing problem has not gone away

• The reference date for the ongoing Census is 1 March 2027 [5].
• PRS thinks a delimitation based on that Census is unlikely to finish before the 2029 Lok Sabha election [5].

• So any plan to fix floor time can be made before the House grows. There is no rush to expand first and reform later.

• One caution: this status comes from PRS pages only. Check the Lok Sabha record before you write it in an answer.

9. Floor Time Is Already Short, Even With 543 MPs

• The House often does not use the time it already has
• In the Winter Session 2024, the Lok Sabha worked for only 52% of its scheduled time [4].
• Other sessions ran above 100% (for example, 111% in the Budget Session 2025) [3]. So floor time depends on whether the House gets disrupted, not just on the calendar.

• Adding MPs does nothing about disruption. A lost hour is lost for 850 members instead of 543.

• Question Hour is the clearest example of the squeeze

• Question Hour is the first hour of a sitting, when MPs ask ministers questions directly.
• In the Winter Session 2025, the Lok Sabha used only 67% of its Question Hour time [2].
• Only about 23% of starred questions (questions marked for a spoken answer on the floor) actually got a spoken answer [2].

• With about 300 more MPs sending questions into the same hour, each MP's chance of being heard falls even further. This is the article's 'muted on the floor' point in numbers.

• Sessions are short, so there is little extra time to share out

• The whole Winter Session 2025 had 15 sittings [2].
• The 2024 Budget Session had 22 sitting days [3].

10. The Places Where MPs Could Get a Voice Are Underused

• Committees could absorb a bigger House, but Bills skip them
• DRSCs (Departmentally Related Standing Committees) are small groups of MPs who study a Bill in detail, away from the crowded floor.
• A larger House would have more MPs to staff these committees. That is the obvious way around limited floor time.
• But only 11 of the 42 Bills introduced in the 18th Lok Sabha have gone to any committee [2].
• Only one, the Securities Markets Code, went to a Standing Committee [2].

• Several Bills, including those on the nuclear energy regulator, MGNREGS and insurance, passed within a week of introduction [2].

• Private Members' Business barely runs

• Private Members' Bills are Bills moved by MPs who are not ministers. They are the backbencher's own tool.
• In the Winter Session 2025, 137 such Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha. Only one day was actually spent on Bills [2].
• These were the Lok Sabha's first Private Member Bill introductions since August 2024 [2].

• More MPs means more such Bills competing for the same one day.

• The House is short of presiding officers

• The Lok Sabha has had no Deputy Speaker since June 2019 [2].
• A House of 850 would be harder to manage with only the Speaker and a panel of chairpersons.

11. Why the South Objects, and Why More Seats Don't Settle It

• Seat share moves, even if no State loses seats
• The failed Delimitation Bill used the 2011 Census [5].

• PRS found that each State's share of Lok Sabha seats would change. Kerala and Tamil Nadu lose the most. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan gain the most [5].

• Why adding seats doesn't solve this

• Raising the House to 850 can protect the number of seats a State has.
• But laws pass by majority, which is a share of the House. A State whose share falls has less say, even if its seat count stays the same.

• States that controlled population growth feel they are being punished for it.

• This links to the article's floor-time point

• A State's MPs need both seats and time to speak.
• If the share of seats shifts and floor time per MP also shrinks, smaller States get squeezed twice.

12. The Best Case for Simply Adding Seats

• The argument for expansion is strong
• About 18 lakh voters per MP is a very heavy load [1].
• Much of an MP's work for constituents happens outside the House: meeting people, following up on local schemes, writing to ministries.
• Smaller constituencies help with all of that, whatever happens on the floor.

• The freeze also means that a vote in a fast-growing State counts for less than a vote in a slow-growing one. The failed Bill aimed to bring back equal population per seat [5].

• What the critics get right, and what they don't

• Right: the first layer of representation (voter access) gets better with more seats. The article does not deny this.
• Not enough: the data show the floor is already crowded. Only about 23% of starred questions get spoken answers [2], and most Bills skip committees [2].
• So expansion fixes the first layer, but alone it makes the second layer worse. The honest answer is to do both, not to choose one.

13. What Parliament Should Change Alongside the Seat Count

• The Government should send more Bills to DRSCs
• Only 11 of 42 Bills went to committees in the 18th Lok Sabha [2].

• Committees are where a large House can use more MPs without needing more floor time.

• The Speaker and Business Advisory Committee should protect Question Hour

• The Business Advisory Committee is the group of MPs that decides how House time is used.

• Only 67% of Question Hour was used in the Winter Session 2025 [2]. Fixing that gives MPs time back before any seats are added.

• The Lok Sabha should elect a Deputy Speaker

• The post has been empty since June 2019 [2]. A House of 850 needs more people to run it, not fewer.

• The House should actually use the days it sets aside for Private Members' Business

• Three days were given in the Winter Session 2025, but business happened on only two [2].

• Parliament should link any future delimitation Bill to these rule changes

• The next Census delimitation is unlikely before 2029 [5]. That leaves time to change the Rules of Procedure first.

14. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Lok Sabha used 67% of Question Hour time, and only about 23% of starred questions got spoken answers, in the Winter Session 2025 [2]
• Data: Only 11 of 42 Bills introduced in the 18th Lok Sabha were referred to committees [2]
• Data: Lok Sabha worked for only 52% of its scheduled time in the Winter Session 2024 [4]
• Data: Proposed cap of 850 = up to 815 seats from States + up to 35 from UTs [6]
• Data: Kerala and Tamil Nadu would lose the most seat share, and UP, Bihar and Rajasthan gain the most, under 2011-Census delimitation [5]
• Report/Committee: PRS Legislative Research, 'Delimitation Bills of 2026: Issues for Consideration' [5]
• Law/Case: 84th Amendment Act, 2001 froze seats on the 1971 Census (Articles 55, 81, 82, 170, 330, 332); the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was voted down in the Lok Sabha [5][7]

15. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: Parliament and State Legislatures, covering structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers and privileges. It also falls under Salient features of the Representation of People's Act and under federal issues.
• Possible question stems: 1. "Increasing the number of legislators without reforming parliamentary procedure may weaken rather than strengthen representation." Critically examine this in the context of the proposed expansion of the Lok Sabha. 2. Discuss the two layers of parliamentary representation in India. What institutional reforms are needed to make sure MPs get enough floor time? 3. Delimitation after the 2026 freeze raises both democratic and federal concerns. Analyse these concerns and suggest a balanced way forward.

16. Related Topics to Study Next

• Delimitation Commission & Article 82/170: the mechanism behind the proposed seat expansion.
• 42nd and 84th Amendments: the history of the seat freeze.
• Declining sitting days and productivity of Parliament: the core of the "functional capacity" argument.
• Parliamentary Committees (DRSCs): a way to get around limited floor time.
• Question Hour / Zero Hour / Private Members' Business: the tools MPs use to raise constituents' issues.
• Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule): it limits MPs' independent voice even when they have floor time.
• North–South demographic divide & federalism: the political economy of reallocating seats.
• New Parliament building (Lok Sabha seating ~888): the physical capacity for an enlarged House (verify).

17. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Delimitation (Polity): Core of the article: how seats and boundaries are redrawn, and why the freeze on 1971 Census totals matters.
• Delimitation Commission (Polity): The body that would actually redraw constituencies and allocate seats if the Lok Sabha expands.
• Question Hour (Polity): A main tool MPs use for floor voice, and one that gets squeezed when more MPs share the same time.
• Zero Hour (Polity): Another slot for raising constituents' urgent issues, which becomes scarcer as the House grows.
• Federalism (Polity): Reallocating seats between high-growth and low-growth States is the federal core of the delimitation dispute.
• Anti-defection law (Polity): Shows how party discipline can limit an MP's independent voice even when they get floor time.

18. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• 550 vs 543: 550 is the constitutional maximum, while 543 is the number of constituencies actually elected [1]. Do not mix the two up.
• Amendment number: the Bill is the 131st Amendment Bill [1]. Do not confuse it with the 106th Amendment (Women's Reservation, 2023) or the 84th (seat freeze).
• Source of voter data: the 97.98 crore figure comes from the Election Commission's 2024 Atlas [1], not from the Census.
• Representation ≠ seat count: the article separates voter access (helped by delimitation) from floor voice (which needs procedural reform) [1]. Treating them as the same point weakens a Mains answer.
• LAMP is not a government programme: it is run by PRS Legislative Research, a non-governmental body.