Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday pitched for parliamentary reforms to find a way to ensure that the bills passed by the Lok Sabha do not lapse in the upper house with the dissolution of the lower House.
He also expressed concern over frequent disruptions and low productivity in Parliament.
Since my assumption of the Office of the Chairman of #RajyaSabha, I have been expressing my concern about disruptions of the proceedings of the House & the negative public perception arising out of it. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/xOPHF3OJ2r
— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) June 21, 2019
Making observations at the start of the session of the Rajya Sabha, the first after the elections, he said it was an opportune time now for all to reform the functioning of the Parliament so that the lives of the people can be transformed as they have reposed immense trust in each one of the members.
It is an opportune time for us to reform functioning of our #Parliament so that we can collectively transform lives of our people who have reposed immense trust in each one of us.
Please think of every Indian before you debate or disrupt.
Think of the #India you wish to create— VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) June 21, 2019
He also said that the committee set up to look into the rules and suggesting ways to stop growing dysfunctional tendencies has submitted its reports and urged the members to give their suggestions so that the House could reach a feasible solution.
“Twenty-two bills passed by the 16th Lok Sabha were pending in the Upper House. They got lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. This means that the Lok Sabha has to take up these bills again for passing. It would take a minimum of two sessions for doing so,” Naidu said.
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The Rajya Sabha chairman said that the bills that got lapsed were of socio-economic importance.
“Can we make any changes in this regard?” he said suggesting the members have a wider debate on the matter of automatic lapsing of bills in the upper house.
The Bills include Triple Talaq Bill, Motor Vehicle Amendment bill, Citizenship Amendment Bill and Consumer Protection Bill.
“Three bills were pending for more than 20 years and six bills were pending for 10-12 years. Indian Medical Council Amendment Bill, the oldest pending bill, has been pending for more than 32 years. All these bills are important and merit timely consideration and passing,” he said.
(With agency inputs)