The secretariat, for the first time, is issuing daily Bulletins, recording the business of the House that could not be taken up.
Amid repeated disruptions in the upper house of parliament during monsoon session, the Rajya Sabha’s monsoon session productivity fell from 32.2 per cent in the first week to 13.7 per cent in the second. According to the House Secretariat’s records, its overall figure for this period stood at 21.6 per cent.
The secretariat, for the first time, is issuing daily Bulletins, recording the business of the House that could not be taken up. 130 Zero Hour submissions and 87 Special Mentions failed to be taken up in the first two weeks, though they were admitted by the Chairman. It is through these that members raise issues of public importance.
39.52 hours were lost to disruptions out of the 50 total working hours available. However, the house sat for 1.12 hours beyond the scheduled time, but for which the productivity would have been even lower.
Only 1.38 hours of Question Hour could be conducted during the nine sittings of the Rajya Sabha these first two weeks. The question hour is primarily meant to ensure accountability of the executive to Parliament.
The Rajya Sabha spent 1.24 hours on legislative business, passing four Bills with seven members intervening. The Bills passed were The Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, 2021; The Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill, 2021; The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and The Coconut Development Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Among the bills introduced were the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
A statement from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said today: “Chairman Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, during the all-party meeting ahead of the Session and the Business Advisory Committee meeting during the first week, has urged the Government and the leaders of various parties to discuss the legislative and other business to be taken up in the House.”
Records further show that only a minute out of the 50 working hours went towards Zero Hour while four were spent on Special Mentions.
Covid-related issues were discussed for 4.37 hours in the first week. The Minister for IT also made a statement on the Pegasus spyware issue in this period.
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