Protests on last day of winter session hit RS’S productivity

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu frequently looks at the rule book to run the House. During the winter session, he also kept a tab on the clock.

For Naidu was keen to ensure that the historic 250th session of the Upper House fully utilised its allotted time — a rare feat as the House often faces disruptions. Naidu was well within his target till the last day but then protests resurfaced.

According to officials close to Naidu, the chairman even asked the secretariat to put out weekly performance reports for the first time so that the utilisation of time or productivity can be seen by any member.

“The productivity for the first three weeks was 94%, 84% and 98% respectively. The overall productivity reached 96% in the first three weeks. The situation further improved when the House sat beyond the scheduled time on two days to clear business, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill,” according to an official.

On the morning of the last day of the Winter Session, the productivity was 100.12%. There was an agreement among the leaders of different parties that the House would be adjourned sine die by 1 pm.

But while the chairman did not anticipate any disruptions on the last day, there were furious protests over issues related to the situation in North-east, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks and other issue.

The House got adjourned for 23 minutes and the productivity slipped to 99.60%.