Lower House picks up pace after initial logjam
NEW DELHI: After losing first two days of the ongoing winter session to disruptions, the Lok Sabha bounced back on Wednesday, clocking 117% productivity as it worked overtime to clear The Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2020, multiple functionaries said on condition of anonymity.
A senior Lok Sabha functionary pointed out 129 MPS participated in various debates in the House on Wednesday. “In the ART bill, a total of 18 MPS participated, of which 15 belonged to various Opposition parties.”
The House sat for two extra hours beyond the scheduled time to compensate for the time lost on the previous two days. On Thursday, the Lowe House clocked even further as it debated the Covid-19 situation in India. “More than 40 MPS were expected to take part in the all-important debate, which is also a pet subject for the Opposition,” said a functionary.
In order to end the logjam that nearly washed off the first two days of the ongoing session, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who has earned a reputation for keeping channels of communication open with all party leaders, held two meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with floor leaders of various parties. A functionary said,
“Birla told floor leaders that they must participate in the Covid debate and speak about their experience and innovations and how they tackled Covid in their constituencies.”
Congress’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told HT: “Rajya Sabha presiding officers have much to learn from our Speaker. He is the custodian of the House but he takes everyone along. I think his approach resolves a lot of problem.”
Another functionary said, “There was a separate meeting with the TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) lawmakers who were protesting over alleged low procurement of food grains by the Centre in Telangana. The Speaker allowed them to raise their issue and they were happy.”
But disruptions might soon return as the Opposition is determined to demand a legislative backing for the minimum support prices (MSP) for farmers. When asked, Birla said, “All issues are to be decided in the Business Advisory Committee meetings. I have no problem if all sides decide on a debate on MSP or any other issue. But the House must run.”
The Lok Sabha has also improved the rate of government reply to issues raised by MPS during the Zero Hour. A senior functionary said that “PM Narendra Modi was also keen that MPS get replies from the government on the issues raised in Zero Hour.”