Giving details of the proceedings, she said the members discussed the Railway Budget for 17 hours and 57 minutes, while the combined debate on the General Budget and demands for grants of various ministries lasted for 17 hours and 12 minutes.

As many as 197 members - approximately every second member in the 543-member house - participated in the discussion on the Railway Budget.

In all, the house had 26 sittings spread over 162 hours during the session that started July 2.

The speaker said 16 bills were introduced and eight were passed in this session.

These included some 'important bills' like the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009, and the Constitution (One Hundred and Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2009.

The education bill gives all children in the age group of six to 14 the right to free and compulsory education, while the constitution amendment legislation extends by 10 more years reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (Sts) in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

Seventy-nine seats have been reserved for SCs and 42 for STs in the Lok Sabha and out of a total 3,961 assembly seats, 543 are reserved for SCs and 527 for STs.