1. Vital Stats
Activity of First-term, Young and Women MPs
Budget Session: July-August 2009
How often did first-term, young and women MPs participate in LS debates? How did
participation cut across party lines? We attempt to answer these questions using data from the
recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament.
Please note that in this analysis, we have excluded Ministers as they represent the Government.
Participation by first-term MPs was lower than average…
Participation of first term MPs in debates in LS First-term MPs form a significant section of each
100%
party (59% on average). At 81%, BSP has the
80% highest proportion of such MPs.
60% Each first-term MP participated in about 2.0
40% debates as compared to 2.5 for an average MP.
20% For most parties, participation of such MPs was
0% less than their more experienced colleagues.
INC BJP SP BSP JD(U) Others Average Though they form 59% of the strength of Lok
Participation of first term MPs (% of party total) Strength of first term MPs (% of party total) Sabha, their participation in debates was 49%.
… as was that of young MPs…
Participation of young MPs in debates in LS
30%
25%
20%
Young MPs from BJP were more active than their
15%
older colleagues.
10% Their counterparts in INC, SP and BSP
5% participated less than their party averages.
0%
INC BJP SP BSP JD(U) Others Average
Participation of young MPs (% of party total) Strength of young MPs (% of party total)
… and women MPs
Participation of women MPs in debates in LS
30% While women MPs constitute 11% of Lok Sabha,
25% they recorded a participation of 8%.
20%
15%
Across most parties, participation by women MPs
10%
was slightly lower than party average.
5% Women MPs of BJP matched their male
0% counterparts.
INC BJP SP BSP JD(U) Others Average
Participation of women MPs (% of party total) Strength of women MPs (% of party total)
Rohit Kumar
rohit@prsindia.org August 07, 2009
PRS Legislative Research Centre for Policy Research Dharma Marg Chanakyapuri New Delhi – 110021
Tel: (011) 2410 6720, (011) 2611 5273-76, Fax: 2687 2746
www.prsindia.org

2. Vital Stats: Activity of First-term, Young and Women MPs in Budget Session 2009 PRS Legislative Research
All three categories saw fewer proportion of MPs participating than average
Concentration of participants in debates in Lok Sabha
100%
80%
76% of all MPs participated in debates.
60%
Among first-term MPs, participation was 73%,
40% while it was 62% for young MPs and 67% for
20%
women MPs.
0%
First term Young Women Average
% of MPs that participated atleast once
Notes:
1. All debates data was compiled from summaries of daily business of the Lok Sabha as contained in Bulletin I.
2. While calculating average number of debates per MP, we excluded Ministers from our consideration set.
3. Parties with total strength greater than 20 MPs have been shown in the graph above.
4. MPs below the age of 40 years were classified as “young MPs”.
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