Only 18 hours of work done in Monsoon session

Parliament disruptions and frequent adjournments since the monsoon session began on July 19 have meant the two Houses functioned for only 18 hours of the scheduled 107, leading to a loss of more than `133 crore of taxpayers’ money.Government sources said the Lok Sabha has been allowed to function for about seven hours out of 53 hours in these nine working days. Rajya Sabha has a slightly better record with 11 hours out of 53. This adds up to 18 hours out of a possible 107 hours and a wastage of 89 hours of working time.If the taxpayers’ money spent on convening Parliament is calculated for this period, it would mean a total loss of more than Rs 133 Crore.In Rajya Sabha productivity was pulled down to 21% in the second week. Four Bills were passed in an hour and a half with only seven members participating in the debates.The Bills passed so far are The Marine Aids to Navigation Bill, 2021; The Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill, 2021; The Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The Coconut Development Board (Amendment) Bill, 2021.Congress and TMC have been raising the unauthorized phone tapping through the Pegasus spyware of leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Abhishek Banerjee as well as several journalists and people from civil society. The Opposition has also been demanding repeal of the three farm laws.While the government has tried to reach out to the Opposition to end the impasse, the latter have stuck to their position that a debate on Pegasus be held first, and Home Minister Amit Shah give a reply. Efforts by Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have had little effect. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to now hold discussions with various political parties.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3C1ri0k