Venkaiah Naidu for automatic suspension of unruly MPs
Venkaiah Naidu. (Express photo by Renuka Puri/File) Venkaiah Naidu. (Express photo by Renuka Puri/File)
WHILE REJECTING the general perception that Parliament is abdicating its responsibilities, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday pitched for “automatic suspension” of members who rush to the Well of the House to disrupt proceedings. He also said names of MPs who disrupt proceedings and break rules should be put in public domain.
Delivering a lecture on ‘Importance of Legislature’, organised by PRS Legislative Research, Naidu urged all political parties to push the women’s reservation Bill and asked them to have a code of conduct for their members.
“Legislature must be more inclusive and have a fair representation of women. While women accounted for only 5 per cent in Lok Sabha in 1952, it could rise to only just over 11 per cent in the present Lok Sabha. This needs to be addressed by taking forward the women’s reservation Bill,” Naidu said.
He said ensuring quorum — or minimum number of MPs present — in the House was not the responsibility of the government alone, and the Opposition should also pitch in. Naidu said that while House presiding officers need to enforce rules of business to ensure smooth functioning, “stopping members from entering the Well of the House has come to be an intractable issue”.
Naidu said, “I suggest that legislatures may display names of the members in public domain with an observation that they have violated the rules in disregard of the directions of the Chair, and thereby adversely impacting the functioning of the House.”
Naidu pointed out that there are some general perceptions about Parliament — that legislatures meet only for a few days, time for deliberations and number of legislation is steadily declining, and members’ attendance is thin — and although the number of sittings has come down, one cannot “infer that Parliament has been abdicating its responsibilities.” On the one-year tenure for standing committee members, he said, “A term of two-and-a-half years for members of the lower houses and three years for members of the upper houses could be considered so that every member could get to be on two committees during their membership.”
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