Naidu asks MPs to improve productivity, says 52% time of Winter Session lost

New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday asked the members to improve and have a "productive" Budget session, after the Winter Session where 52.10 per cent of the time for proceedings was lost in disruptions.

At the beginning of the house's sitting, he urged the members to ensure a productive Budget session taking place at the confluence of the historic 75th year of Independence and 70 years of electoral journey of free India.

Naidu urged all sections to ensure the best performance of the house during this session by reminding members of 93.50 per cent productivity during the Budget session last year.

Referring to the preceding Monsoon session last year, he said the loss of functional time of this house was as high as 70.40 per cent and "the trend of disruptions is highly disturbing. I refer to the same with fervent hope that we all reflect on the same and conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the historic time that we are passing through.

Informing the members that there will be a 13 hour debate on Motion of Thanks to President for his address and an over 11 hour debate on the Union Budget, Naidu said: that "These two important overarching discussions enable hon'ble members to raise any and every issue while adhering to the spirit of the rules and conventions of the House." He urged the members to make the most out of the opportunities during these debates.

He also said that while voter turnout had increased from 45 per cent in the 1951-1952 elections to 67 per cent in 2019, the elected representatives "do not seem to be reciprocating in equal measure with the functioning of legislatures declining over the years" and urged all MPs, MLAs and MLCs in the country to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the trust of the people.

Naidu noted that the attendance of MPs had increased from 47.64 per cent in 2016-2017 to 48.79 per cent in 2019-2020, but fell marginally in 2020-2021 to 47 per cent.

"This is a very welcome improvement showing the deep commitment of each one of you to your Parliamentary duties. With regard to the duration of meetings of the eight committees of Rajya Sabha, the average duration of meetings improved from 1 hour 48 minutes in 2016-2017 to 2 hours 10 minutes during 2019-2020, marking an increase of 22 minutes on an average per meeting," he added.

Referring to the achievement regarding anti-Covid vaccination in the country, he placed on record the appreciation of Rajya Sabha to all stakeholders.