New Delhi: Government on Friday said it was not practical to have more than 100 sittings of Parliament and state legislatures in a year saying the need was to have quality and meaningful debates.
"There is a need to have quality and meaningful debates in Parliament and state legislatures. I respect the sentiments of the members...But it may not be desirable," Minister of Parliamentary Affairs PK Bansal told the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a private members Bill to have more than 100 sittings of Parliament and state legislatures in a year, he said the effort of the government will be to have more days.
He said to determine the number of days it was important to see what business the government had. The minister said that in this session 10 bills have been referred to Standing Committees and unless these come back, how can discussions take place.
Bansal agreed that over the years the standard of debate has "deteriorated" and the number of sittings of the two Houses come down.
"The quality of business we transact is important. Our primary concern is to make maximum use of time," he said.
The minister said it will be "impractical" to make it mandatory that 100 sittings have to be held, as if it did not happen for whatever reason, it would tantamount to violating the Constitution.
On repeated adjournments of the two Houses, he said for days together, Parliament is unable to meet as the "sound of democracy prevails over the reasons of democracy".
"Whatever the number of days we sit, we should transact business. The first primary resolve should be to make Parliament work. When that happens, then comes the question of more sittings," Bansal said.
He said while the Constitution prescribes that not more than six months should lapse between two sittings, not more than three months lapse between two sittings.
Bansal said in the current session, the Rajya Sabha lost 12 hours in four days while in the last session, it lost 10 hours in six days. For the Lok Sabha, he gave percentage of time lost in some previous sessions from 6 per cent to as high as 31 percent.
He said perhaps Rs 14 lakh is lost in an hour if Parliament does not function.
Pointing out the impracticality, he said in 52 weeks of the year, there are 104 Saturdays and Sundays and 22 Gazetted Holidays and then there is the Committee system which does the work of Parliament.
The minister said the Question Hour was an important tool of Parliamentary democracy where the minister is tested.
"Everyday, the first thing you want is the Question Hour to go. Why should we not resolve that the Question Hour is not wasted," Bansal said, asking the member to take back the Bill.
Earlier, Rajniti Prasad (RJD) supported the Bill saying there should be a rule that Question Hour should not be adjourned and also wanted an increase in the timing from one to two hours.
- PTI
