Context: The Private members’ face challenges in advancing legislation in the Parliament, including limited parliamentary time allocated for such bills and prioritisation of public bills.
As per the latest data, during the five-year term of the 17th Lok Sabha (that ended in 2024), mere 9.08 hours were spent on Private Members’ Bills, while the Rajya Sabha spent just 27 hours on them during the period.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts about private bills; Difference between private bill and public bill.
About Private Member Bill
- Bills introduced in the Parliament are of two kinds: Public bills and Private bills.
- Public Bill is the bill that is introduced by a Minister.
- Private Bill is a legislative proposal that is initiated by an individual Member of the Parliament, who is not a Minister.
- Though both bills are governed by the same general procedure and pass through the same stages in the House, they differ in various respects.
| Public Bill | Private Bill |
| It is introduced in the Parliament by a minister. | It is introduced by any member of Parliament other than a minister. |
| It reflects the policies of the government (ruling party). | It reflects the stand of the opposition party on public matters. |
| It has a greater chance of being approved by the Parliament. | It has a lesser chance to be approved by the Parliament. E.g., As of 2024, only 14 Private bills have been successfully enacted into law, since independence. |
| Its rejection by the House amounts to the expression of want of parliamentary confidence in the government and may lead to its resignation. | Its rejection by the House has no implication on the parliamentary confidence in the government or its resignation. |
| Its introduction in the House requires seven days’ notice. | Its introduction in the House requires one month’s notice. |
| It is drafted by the concerned department in consultation with the law department. | Its drafting is the responsibility of the member concerned. |
Significance of Private Member Bills:
- They enable legislators to:
- draw attention to issues not represented in Government Bills.
- highlight gaps in the existing legal framework requiring legislative intervention.
- The bills are the only instruments available for MPs’ individual expression without being bound by their party’s diktat.
Key Facts:
- A private member can bring bills on Constitutional Amendments. A private member cannot initiate a Money Bill.
- Muslim Wakf Bill, 1952 was the first private member bill to be passed in Parliament.
- No Private Members’ Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970.
Way Forward
- Dedicated hours for PMBs to enable meaningful debate and potential adoption of the PMB. Amendments can be made to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business to explicitly protect this time from being overridden, except in cases of a national emergency.
- Institution of Review Committee specifically for PMBs which is responsible for screening Bills for quality, relevance, and constitutionality.
- Fast-track mechanism can be introduced for high-impact or broadly supported Bills to reach the floor in a time-bound manner.
- Adopting global practices on PMBs: Ten-Minute Rule of the U.K. Parliament — any MP can make a short speech of up to 10 minutes in support of a PMB along with its introduction, after which another MP may oppose it for an equal length of time. This allows Bills to be introduced, heard, and recorded without long time slots.
Private member bills can create a channel for a greater number of legislative ideas to enter the public domain. Hence, emphasis should be laid on the role of private members' business in deepening democracy.