LOK SABHA SPEAKER COMPLETES FOURTH YEAR IN OFFICE

Staff Reporter/ New Delhi
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who has completed four years in office of Speaker on Monday, chaired a review session of the Chintan Shivir organized for officers and officials of Lok Sabha Secretariat in Parliament House Complex.
Two phases of Chintan Shivir were organized in April and May of this year. Speaking on the occasion, Birla said that the work culture at Lok Sabha Secretariat should be such that the institution serves as a model for offices from around the nation to aspire to.
Birla exhorted the employees of the Secretariat to serve as active participants in the process of change and improvement. He added that they must make the most of opportunities to improve themselves. Chintan Shivir is a unique and pioneering initiative for facilitating meaningful and purposeful discussion and deliberations. The purpose is to reflect on administrative issues to keep the soul and mind of Lok Sabha Secretariat officials fresh and to remain connected to the aspirations of people.
On this occasion, several achievements of the 17th Lok Sabha, which completed four years today, were also discussed.
Historic Productivity
The 17th Lok Sabha has been historic for the several achievements and right decisions it has made so far. Even Covid-19 could not deter the spirit of Members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Despite the challenges posed by the Pandemic and curtailment of Parliament sessions on many occasions, the first eleven sessions of 17th Lok Sabha have 230 sittings which is higher than that of the 16th Lok Sabha.
During the first eleven sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, total of 169 Government Bills have been passed which is significantly higher in comparison to the first eleven sessions of the 15th and the 16th Lok Sabha where 140 and 134 Government Bills were passed respectively.
During the first eleven sessions of the 17th Lok Sabha, a total of 2405 times members participated in discussion over Government Bills, including participation by Women Members 367 times. The 17th Lok Sabha was also a pioneer in ensuring the role of women members in improving legislative functions, policy-making and program implementation. In the last four years, 367 women members participated in the discussion on Bills.
Productivity till the eleventh session of the 17th Lok Sabha stands at 93.09 percent which is higher than the corresponding period of the 14th, 15th and 16th Lok Sabhas.
The official release mentioned that on the initiative of Speaker Om Birla, the Lok Sabha secretariat during the 17th Lok Sabha has started monitoring replies from Ministries to Matters raised under Rule 377.
“In order to ensure early replies, the matters were constantly pursued with Ministries. As a result, the percentage of replies to matters under Rule 377 during the 1st to the 11th Session of the 17th Lok Sabha rose to 89.92 per cent as compared to 56.76 per cent and 43.87 per cent in the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha respectively, during the corresponding period,” it said.
“During the four years of the 17th Lok Sabha, the usage of technology has increased significantly in the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Members are now submitting notices through the online portal to the maximum extent possible and resultantly the percentage of e-notices received has increased from 44.22 per cent in the last Session of the 16th Lok Sabha to 95.94 per cent during the last Session held, i.e., 11 Sessions of 17th Lok Sabha,” it added.