Venkaiah breaks down, says "could not sleep" ..... LS Speaker hints at framing of 'stringent' House Rules

Govt pushes for actions against errant MPs: PM, Sonia meet Speaker Birla

New Delhi: 

Lok Sabha Speaker tweeted a brief video footage of members and floor leaders sitting with him after the just-concluded session of Parliament, where the Opposition and the treasury bench remained daggers drawn.

Photo: The Tribune

The government and the ruling BJP are all for enforcement of discipline amongthe members in both the Houses of Parliament and have placed a strong demand for constituting a special committee.

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said, "We demand that a special committee be set up to look into the incidents of gross indiscipline by Opposition members and strict action be taken. Opposition's intentions were on full display".

The government sources have said that the disruption of the House was pre-planned and "washing out" the session was their ultimate goal right from day one.

Goyal also spoke about attempts being made to the chair, table staff and the Secretary General. 

"Opposition members even tried to stop me & the parliamentary affairs minister from coming out of our chambers. This is unfortunate. Such behaviour should never be tolerated by the House & the country," he said. 

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhiand other floor leaders of various parties met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Addressing a press conference, the Speaker expressed his disappointment and hinted that more stringentnorms may be framed to enforce discipline and uphold decorum and dignity of Parliament.

In Lok Sabha, the productivity in this session was 22 per cent. 

Rajya Sabha has recorded a productivity of 28% during the Monsoon Session. A total of 17 sittings were held in the House that functioned for 28 hours and 21 minutes. According to sources, 76 hours and 26 minutes were lost due to disruptions and only 19 Bills were passed.

On average, despite disruption, it made about 1.1 Bill passage every day.

This was also the second highest since 2014, but most Bills were approved without discussions.  This reflects the commitment and the ability of the government to drive legislative agenda in Parliament, which aims to fulfil the aspirations of the citizens, a government source said.

Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu broke downin the House on Wednesday for the unruly behaviour of Congress member Partap Singh Bajwaand other opposition members.

In 2019, Naidu had earlier emphasised that neither he nor the House would be pressured by tendentious conduct and comments of members. “I am saying this out of agony and keeping the dignity and public image of the House," he had said.

"I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night.....last night," he said in a choked voice on Wednesday, August 11.

Lok Sabha Speaker tweeted a brief video footage of members and floor leaderssitting with him after the just-concluded session of Parliament, where the Opposition and the treasurybench remained daggers drawn.

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New Delhi: 

The productivity of the Lok Sabha stood at a modest 22 per cent only in the just-concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament, Speaker Om Birla said here on Wednesday.

Pitching for 'Sahmat' in the running of House proceedings, Mr Birla told reporters shortly after adjourning the House sine die that displaying banners, raising slogans and storming into the well cannot be "part of our parliamentary Maryada".

The Speaker hinted at making new and 'stringent' laws to enforce discipline among members.

"We will call a meeting of all parties to review the existing parliamentary rules. We need to review the existing rules," Mr Birla said adding, there is a need to re-frame them and make them stringent.

Mr Birla also said, most of the presiding officers (Speakers) in state legislatures do not approve of carrying placards, trooping into the well and shouting slogans. 

The proceedings have been cut short after Tuesday's unprecedented unruly scenes in Rajya Sabha wherein a Congress member Partap Singh Bajwa jumped into the House Table and hurled papers at the Chair.

The video footage tweeted by some members showed, several other opposition parties were seen clapping and dancing in front of the Chair.

On Wednesday, Bajwa remained defiant and said when he hurled the papers and rule book towards the Chair, there was no one sitting there as the House was already adjourned.

The session was supposed to continue till August 13.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said: "We will make more efforts to ensure that rules are followed and decorum maintained".

Answering questions, he said: “Ahead of every session, I hold a conversation with Opposition members and parties. The procedure was followed this time also. We will try to make more efforts. The media should also help.” 

Mr Birla said, 'Sahmati’, ‘samvad’, and ‘charcha’ (cooperation, dialogue and discussions) are vital to Parliamentary proceedings and the onus is on all members and parties to uphold them.

"I tried my best to run the house smoothly and give equal opportunity to all members but the house productivity was very poor during this session unlike the previous sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha," Birla said.

He also said several rounds of meetings took place and effort was made to reach a consensus but it could not happen on some issues. 

"We should expect that the House will be allowed to run smoothly in future as people of the country have a lot of expectations from Parliament," Mr Birla said.

Opposition protests over the Pegasus snooping row has been affecting the smooth functioning of Parliament right from day one of Monsoon session on July 19.

Earlier as soon as the Rajya Sabha assembled in the morning 1100 hours to begin day's business after the gory episode of Tuesday, Chairman Venkaiah Naidu broke down while reading out a prepared statement condemning what he called "sacrilege" and violation of the "temple of democracy"  by the opposition.

"I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts as I spent a sleepless night.....last night," he said in a choked voice braving tears.

The ruling dispensation and floor managers have pressed for initiating strict actions against the MPs. There are chances that the matters may be referred to the Ethics Committee.

Mr Naidu, who is also country's Vice President, said: "I am distressed by the way the way the sacredness was destroyed yesterday. When some members sat on the table, some members climbed on the table of the house, perhaps to be more visible with such acts of sacrilege."

The Upper House, however, later took up OBC Quota Bill of the 127th Constitution Amendment Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha after three-hours long debate on Tuesday.

The Bill is a caste-sensitive draft law and states will be empowered to prepare OBC List of their own.

After this Bill is passed by both the Houses and Presidential assent is given, all state governments will get power to ensure Quota for Marathas in Maharashtra, Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana and Lingayats in Karnataka.

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