Nirendra Dev
Earlier in the day (August 11), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and other floor leaders of various parties met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
New Delhi: The government and the ruling BJP are set to enforce discipline among the Houses of Parliament members and have placed a strong demand for 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 (August 11), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and 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 stringent norms might 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 because of disruptions and only 19 bills were passed. On average, despite the 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 government's commitment and ability to drive the 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 down in the House on Wednesday for the unruly behaviour of Congress member Pratap Singh Bajwa and other opposition members.
In 2019, Naidu had earlier emphasised that tendentious conduct and comments of members would pressure neither him nor the House.
“I am saying this out of agony and keeping the dignity and public image of the House. 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 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.
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