New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha missed the landmark 100 per cent productivity criterion during the just-concluded Budget session just by a whisker-a mere 10 minutes. It clocked 99.80 per cent productivity, creating a record, officials said.
This is the Upper House’s third-best productive session in the last 14 sessions since the Monsoon Session (243rd Session) of 2017, they added.
As against the scheduled 29 sittings, the House held 27 sittings, including 10 during the first part of the Budget Session and 17 during the second part that concluded on Thursday (April 7, 2022). Two sittings were given up ahead of Holi and Ram Navami on the suggestions from leaders of various parties in the House.
The Budget Session started on a positive note, witnessing no disruptions and forced adjournments during the first 12 full sittings, which is the best stretch in about the last three years.
During this session, the Rajya Sabha passed 11 Bills, including the six Appropriation and Finance Bills that were returned. One Bill, the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, was introduced in the House.
The House witnessed forced adjournments on six days, all during the second part of the Session, but members sat beyond the scheduled hours on 11 days.
In fact, 21 of the 27 sittings were free of forced adjournments. As against the scheduled sitting time of 127 hours 54 minutes, the House functioned for 127 hours 44 minutes.
“…. The productivity of the House would have been 100 per cent but for the loss of these 10 minutes,” added the officials.
While the functional time of 9 hours 26 minutes was lost to disruptions and forced adjournments, the House gained 9 hours 16 minutes, with members sitting beyond the scheduled hours.
The members discussed the ministries of Railways, Development of North-Eastern Region, Tribal Affairs and Labour and Employment for 22 hours 34 minutes. This was the best performance in the last 12 years after five ministries were discussed in 2010, the officials said.
23 per cent of the time was spent on the government’s Bills and 10 per cent on raising issues of public importance through Zero Hour and Special Mentions.
During the second part of the Budget Session, the eight Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committees of Rajya Sabha held 16 meetings for 19 hours and 30 minutes.
In fact, during the first part of the Budget session in the first week of February (2022), the House of Elders worked as the purposeful and real ‘house’ of elders.
Rajya Sabha clocked 100 per cent productivity during the first week of the Budget session.
“There were no adjournments and no major disruption during the week,” a source said.
In fact, the productivity improvements are in sharp contrast to what happened in the House in 2021.
Eight opposition members of the Rajya Sabha were suspended on September 21, 2021, over the massive chaos when controversial farm bills were passed on September 20.
There was a twist to the entire tale of ‘manhandling’ of a female marshal in Rajya Sabha last year during the Monsoon session of Parliament as video footage had gone viral showing most opposition Members of Parliament watching silently as a few women MPs allegedly tried to drag the security personnel.
In another episode on August 10, Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa had jumped onto the Reporters’ table and hurled papers toward the chair.
