16th Lok Sabha: 75 per cent lawmakers are graduates

New Delhi: About 75 per cent of MPs in the16th Lok Sabha have at least a graduate degree, while 10 per cent are only matriculates.

This is slightly less than the 15th Lok Sabha in which 79 per cent had a bachelor's degree.

At the same time, the number of MPs with just a matriculate degree has decreased to 10 per cent from 17 per cent in preceding Lok Sabha, according to a report by PRS Legislative Research.

The number of members with a doctoral degree has increased to six per cent in 2014 polls from three per cent in the 15th Lok Sabha.

Interestingly, the percentage of MPs elected in the 2014 general elections who do not have a matriculate degree is significantly higher (13 per cent) in comparison to the 15^th Lok Sabha (3 per cent).

"75 per cent of the 543 MPs elected in the 2014 general elections have at least a graduate degree. This is slightly lesser than the 15th Lok Sabha in which 79 per cent of MPs held at least a graduate degree," the report noted.

Also, in the 16th Lok Sabha, 27 per cent of MPs elected have listed agriculture as their primary occupation, followed by political and social work (24 per cent) and business (20 per cent).

In comparison, in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, 28 per cent MPs had listed political and social work as their occupation, 27 per cent had listed agriculture, while 15 per cent had listed business.

Going back to the very first Lok Sabha that was formed in 1952, the single largest occupation of members was that of lawyers (36 per cent), followed by agriculture (22 per cent) and business (12 per cent).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) crossed the 272 mark comfortably on its own, without allies, winning 282 seats.