Om Birla has led a revolutionary period in India's parliamentary history, characterised by historic digital reforms, record legislative productivity, and increased international parliamentary engagement, one year into his second term as Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
The 18th Lok Sabha has held four sessions since his reelection on June 26, 2024, and the fifth is set to start on July 21. The House's average productivity under his leadership has been 103.17 per cent, the highest in recent years, and proceedings have lasted 372 hours and 36 minutes.
On April 3, 204 issues were brought up during Zero Hour in a single day, marking a significant milestone and a record for the Lok Sabha. Renaming "Matters of Urgent Public Importance" to "Matters of Public Importance" was another noteworthy change that simplified parliamentary terminology to reflect shifting priorities. 24 significant pieces of legislation, including the Waqf Board (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Indian Aircraft Bill 2024, and the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, were passed during the first year of the 18th Lok Sabha.
These supplement the 17th Lok Sabha's significant legislative accomplishments from Birla's previous term, which included landmark rulings like the Muslim Women's Rights Act, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, and the repeal of Article 370.
Om Birla has greatly increased India's parliamentary presence on the international scene. He oversaw Indian delegations at important international gatherings, including the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Brazil (June 2025), the 149th and 150th IPU Assemblies in Geneva (October 2024) and Tashkent (April 2025), the CSPOC Standing Committee Meeting in the UK (January 2025), and the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Russia (July 2024).
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Important issues, such as the Pahalgam terror attack, were brought up by Indian delegations led by him. Nine nations, including Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Mauritius, the Maldives, and Armenia, sent parliamentary delegations to India in the last year. In order to promote reaching agreements with foreign parliaments, the Speaker reaffirmed his intention to create Parliamentary Friendship Groups.
The introduction of the Digital Parliament Project 2.0, an initiative to improve the accessibility, transparency, and technological sophistication of the Indian Parliament, has been a significant breakthrough this term. The project entails the creation of an AI-powered video search engine with multilingual speech recognition and the digitisation of more than 8,000 hours of historical parliamentary proceedings.
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Systems like the Parliament Digital Library (PDL) and eHRMS for staff management were introduced, along with a digital attendance system for MPs that uses tablets and smart pens. By replacing 19 different forms with a single digital platform, a single unified onboarding system for new MPs reduced errors and saved time. An AI-powered multilingual translation tool called "Sansad Bhashini" was introduced, assisting in overcoming language barriers and promoting inclusivity.
Because of Om Birla's emphasis on public involvement, a Parliamentary Knowledge Platform and Room No. 52 in the Parliament Library Building have been established. There are now frequent briefings on significant bills, and initiatives have been taken to promote increased involvement of women and young people in parliamentary fellowships and debates. In addition to cutting down on paperwork and improving administrative effectiveness, these programs reinterpret Parliament's openness and accessibility for the broader public.
With more than 1.4 billion people living in India, the Lok Sabha continues to be a potent forum for the country's many issues and goals. The 18th Lok Sabha, led by Speaker Om Birla, has shown that democracy needs to change with the times. He has strengthened Parliament's position as the defender of India's democratic legacy and an institution that is ready to take on new challenges by fusing tradition and innovation.
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