Responding to the Opposition’s boycott of the House, Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu assured them that he was committed to allow any issue to be raised by anybody as per rules and procedures.
He also said nobody should have any misgivings about that.
The vice president said his act of adjourning the House for the day following disruptions was to inject a sense of “collective responsibility” into everyone.
“Some members have, perhaps, not properly understood my concern and anguish over the functioning of the House,” he said.
“Ever since I started chairing the proceedings, leaders of several parties have conveyed their anguish to me over how they are being deprived of the right to raise issues of concern, as some parties strategise disruptions that lead to forced adjournments,” he said.
“I have shared this with floor leaders on more than one occasions,” Naidu added.
“I have admitted a total of 42 Zero Hour admissions during the last three working days – on the 2nd, 5th and 6th of this month. Only one person could make the submission. Who is to be held responsible for denying 41 members of their right to bring their concerns to the notice of this august House and to the government?” he said.
Pointing out another trend in disruptions, the vice president said, “First the Zero Hour is disrupted, then even the Question Hour gets disrupted, which means that when members get an opportunity to question the government, that is also disrupted.”
“On many occasions over the years, the House gets adjourned several times between 11 am and 1 pm. In this era of TV explosion, such frequent adjournments are adversely impacting the image and credibility of this House,” he said.
“In this backdrop, I thought that it would be better to adjourn the House for a longer period instead of resorting to frequent adjournments – that too when it becomes evident that some sections of the House were bent on not allowing smooth conduct of the House.”
The chairman said he discussed “this concern of mine with the deputy chairman first this morning and later with floor leaders.
I have urged the leaders to ensure smooth conduct of proceedings. I also told leaders that if House proceedings are disrupted at the start, I would be left with no option but to adjourn the House till lunch.”
Naidu said his intention in doing so is to promote a sense of collective responsibility to minimise or do away with forced frequent disruptions.
“When members and parties realise that they would ultimately be the losers of such disruptions and adjournments, they would talk to each other and enable better functioning of the House.” (Deccan Herald)
