The tenure of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu was initially marked by low productivity of the House, but later it improved. Of the 13 plenary sessions he chaired till this year’s budget session, productivity in the first five sessions ranged from 6.8 per cent to 58.8 per cent, while productivity improved significantly in six of the next eight sessions. A range of 76 percent to 105 percent with five sessions working for about 100 percent of the scheduled time. During this period 58 issues were primarily responsible for the disruptions and forced adjournments of the House, 57 per cent of the sittings of the Rajya Sabha witnessed disruption and forced adjournments for any part of the day or for the whole day.
A first-of-its-kind publication on the working of the Rajya Sabha during Naidu’s tenure, to be released on Monday, states that the issue of special category status for Andhra Pradesh was raised in 36 sittings in four sessions, beginning with a maximum of 24. It happened from Bar during the 2018 budget session. The next four issues pertain to three agricultural laws and farmers’ protests, Pegasus spyware, formation of Cauvery water management board and suspension of 12 members in winter. 2021 session. During Naidu’s tenure, about 78 percent of Rajya Sabha (RS) members attended the House daily, signing the daily attendance register.
While about 3 per cent did not do so, 30 per cent of the members reported full attendance at various sessions. In the years since 1978, for which detailed data about the workings of the Rajya Sabha is kept, the House has spent less and less time on its oversight task of ensuring executive accountability to Parliament, primarily The reason is the continued low usage. Question Hour.
Such details about the functioning of the Rajya Sabha during the last five years and the functional development of the House since 1978 are contained in a publication titled “Rajya Sabha: 2017-2022 – An Overview”, which will be released on 8 August. For the first time, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat is using such publication on the five-year term of a Chairman for immediate reference. It also details the unique initiative of the Speaker to improve the working of the House and its committees.
Citing evidence, the publication listed the salient features of the functioning of the House under Naidu’s presidency – improving the productivity of the House during the later part of his term for continued access to leaders and members; Regular monitoring of the working of the committees resulted in better performance among others.
Naidu presided over 13 plenary sessions with 261 meetings held during this period as against 289 meetings scheduled. In the best legislative output per year, 52 bills were passed in 2019, the highest in 36 years. The lowest annual productivity ever recorded was 40 per cent in 2018 and the second lowest at 58.8 per cent in 2021.
During the 67 years from 1952 to 2019, the legislative output has been more than one Bill per sitting in only six years – 1976, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2002 and 2003. A total of 194 private members’ bills were introduced, while nine private members’ motions were discussed. Of the total 3,525 starred questions, 936 were answered orally. The utilization of Question Hour during this period has been 41 per cent of the scheduled time. “During these 13 sessions, a total of 58 issues have largely led to the House being adjourned either partly or for the whole day,” the publication said.
On an average, about 78 per cent members sign the attendance register required for payment of daily allowance, while 2.56 per cent never attend proceedings on a daily basis. About 30 per cent of the members reported full attendance during the various sessions. With Chairman Naidu regularly urging members to speak in their mother tongue in the House, the use of Indian languages in the proceedings of the House has increased almost four times during 2018-2020 compared to the period of 14 years. From 2004-2017. For the first time in 2020, four languages- Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani and Santhali have been used since the House came into existence in 1952.
The productivity of the Rajya Sabha has been declining since 1995 for every reference period for the tenures of different governments, the publication said, in the last 70 years since the Rajya Sabha came into existence in 1952. There were no governments. The House holds a majority for 40 years, which includes more than the last three decades in succession. While the House functioned mostly from 400 to 500 hours per year during 1978–1990, it later fell to 300 hours or more per year and less than 300 hours per year since 2010.
An analysis of the time spent by the House on various functions for the 41 years since 1978 till now has shown that the Rajya Sabha is developing more as a deliberative body. It said that during 1978-2004, 33.40 per cent of the time of the House was spent on issues of public importance; 41.42 per cent during 2005-2014 and 46.59 per cent during 2015-2019.
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