Over 52 percent of the Rajya Sabha’s scheduled sitting time was lost to disruptions and protests during the last week. However, the high productivity on Thursday and Friday resumed the hope of return to normal functioning.
Opposition MPs have been protesting over several issues in the upper house, including the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha members for ruckus on the last day of the monsoon session, a report in NDTV said.
The productivity of the Upper House last week has been 47.70 percent of the scheduled time. But, the house sat for 33 minutes beyond the scheduled time on Thursday, raising overall productivity for the week to 49.70 percent, the report said.
Opposition members have slammed the suspension move as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘selective’, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has refused to revoke the action, underlining that the suspended members have not ‘expressed remorse’.
Naidu, however, has added that it is for the House to take a view on the decision and it is for all concerned to take it forward.
As many as 12 opposition MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Monday for the entire Winter session of Parliament for their ‘unruly’ conduct in the previous session in August, even as the Opposition termed the suspension as ‘undemocratic and in violation of all the Rules of Procedure” of the Upper House. Six suspended MPs are from the Congress, two each from the Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, and one each from the CPI and CPM.
Meanwhile, the suspended MPs have been protesting near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on parliament premises. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi reportedly said that the government was ready to consider revoking the suspension if the suspended members apologise.
A government statement said that Thursday and Friday reported the highest productivity for the week, at 95 percent and 100 percent.
A recent study conducted on the participation of Members of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha showed an average daily attendance of 78 percent members in the last seven sessions. It also showed that the highest daily attendance was reported during the last monsoon session of Parliament at 82.57 per cent.
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Source: News18