ANDALIB AKHTER
NEW DELHI: Vice President of India and the chairman of upper house of Indian parliament Rajya Sabha, Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Tuesday proposed to bring changes in the timing of proceeding of the House. He said that the current practice tramples on the rights of individual Members and detracts from the dignity of Parliament.
In his valedictory remarks at end the 220th Session of Rajya Sabha , the chairman suggested that proceedings of the house should be started with the ‘Zero Hour’ at 11.00 AM and the Question Hour be taken up later in the day.
Ansari said that When the rules for the conduct of business were drawn up decades back, it was not visualized that perceived concerns or grievances would be articulated through disruption of proceedings. “This is now taking place with disturbing regularity. The practice tramples on the rights of individual Members, detracts from the dignity of Parliament, and has invited public criticism”, he underlined.
He said that the members need to think collectively about the matter and explore possible options for saving the Question Hour from such disruptions. “While the other time lost is compensated by sitting beyond the normal hours, it is only the Question Hour which is irretrievably lost in disruptions” he said adding that the Chair would continue its consultations on the re-scheduling of daily items of business in order to strike a balance between expression of perceived concerns and the normal business for the day.
Chairman also said that 59 new members joined the House during the Session and 26 of them have already made their maiden speech.