Nearly 13% of the Private Members’ Bills moved in the 17th Lok Sabha were introduced by Members of Parliament (MPs) from Kerala.
A total of 729 private members’ Bills were introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha, spanning from June 2019 to February 2024. Of this, 95 Bills were moved by 13 of the 20 MPs from Kerala, according to data compiled by non-profit PRS Legislative Research.
In the State-wise data, Kerala stood at second position in the total number of Private Member’s Bills introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha. The MPs from Maharashtra topped the list after they moved 126 Bills. The statistics showed that only a few MPs had introduced the Bills. About 73% MPs did not introduce private members’ Bills (only an average of 1.5 Bills per MP).
A Private Member’s Bill is the only way for a parliamentarian who is not in the government, as a Minister, to introduce a piece of legislation. It enables members to draw attention to issues not represented in government Bills.
Among the MPs from Kerala who introduced the Bills, N.K Premachandran. representing the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency, moved the highest number (18) followed by Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram) 13; Dean Kuriakose (Idukki) 12; and M.K. Raghavan (Kozhikode) 11.
The number of Bills moved by others: Hibi Eden (Ernakulam) 9; V K Sreekandan (Palakkad) 9; Kodikunnil Suresh (Mavelikkara) 8; E.T Mohammed Basheer (Ponnani) 5; Benny Behanan (Chalakudy) 3; Thomas Chazhikadan (Kottayam) 3; Anto Antony (Pathanamthitta) 2; T.N. Prathapan (Thrissur) 1; and A.M. Arif (Alappuzha) 1.
Some of the Private Members’ Bills moved by the Kerala MPs include the Journalist (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to the Property) Bill, 2022; the ASHA Workers (Regularisation of Service and Other Benefits) Bill, 2020; the Anganwadi Worker’s Welfare Bill, 2022; the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2023 (Amendment of section 2, etc.); the High Court of Kerala (Establishment of a Permanent Bench at Thiruvananthapuram) Bill, 2023; and the Right of Women to Menstrual Leave and Free Access to Menstrual Health Products Bill, 2022.
Over 700 such Bills were pending before the House, according to a Lok Sabha bulletin issued in November last year. As per the rules, the Minister concerned responds and requests the member to withdraw the Bill once the debate on it was over. Only 14 Private Members’ Bills have become laws so far.
