New Delhi, Feb 13 (UNI) Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday could not hide his disappointment over frequent disruptions in the House during the Budget session which reduced the productivity of the session to barely 4.9 per cent.
In his closing remarks before adjourning the House sine die, he said that some Bills were passed on the final day Wednesday but some important Bills could not be taken up due to frequent disruptions leading to adjournments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House at the time.
"Legislative output has declined since 2014,’’ Mr Naidu said adding that declining productivity was "a matter of concern.’’
"My anguish seems to have no impact (but) the Chair has his limitations,’’ he said.
Earlier, the House was adjourned for over 10 minutes as opposition obstructed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018 which had been passed by Lok Sabha.
Members from the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Communist Party of India were on their feet opposing the Bill that was being moved by Food and Consumer Protection Minister Ram Vilas Paswan for consideration and passage. Opposition members said it attacked the federal structure.
In the interim period the Chairman met the leaders of various parties.
When the House met again, Mr Naidu said, "There was some communication gap and misunderstanding. I am not proceeding with the Bill.’’
Immediately after Mr Naidu rose to make his closing remarks in which he observed that there were "wasted opportunities’’ in the short but important session.
He said this was a big challenge for democracy, which should be deeply introspected by members. ``The House of Elders is expected to lead by example..but I have still not lost hope,’’ he said.
Observing the Parliamentary democracy is about being ``accountable’’ and legislature must discharge its functions accordingly. ``The three critical functions of members is tom legislate, deliberate and be accountable,’’ he said.
Mr Naidu said the present session had shown the lowest productivity since June 2014. During the session, 44 hours were lost due to disruptions.
The Chairman said in the 248th Budget session that commenced on January 31, there were 10 sitting and the House sat for only more than two hours during the entire session.
On the final day, three Bills namely the Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill 2019, the Appropriation Bill, the Finance Bill, 2019 were returned and two Bills namely, the Personal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (3rd Amendment) Bill, 2019 were passed.
Apart from that, six Bills including Constitution (125th Amendment) Bill, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (3rd Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the International Financial Services Centre Authority Bill, 2019, the Cinematographers (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019 were introduced during the session.
Few Zero Hour mentions and no special mentions could be taken up during the session. Some members were suspended owing to continuous disruptions.
The House could not take up the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 which was listed for consideration and passing.
This was the last session before general elections which are due in May 2019.
UNI GP SNU 1358