Venkaiah Naidu to review Rajya Sabha rules to minimise disruptions

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said he has decided to review the rules of the Upper House in order to minimise disruptions which have marred its proceedings during the ongoing Budget session.

“I have already decided to have a review of the rules of Rajya Sabha and once the draft is prepared, it will be discussed in the Rules Committee and then finally after a general discussion, we will move in that direction, what Rahman Khan has just mentioned,” Naidu said.

Veteran Congress leader K Rahman Khan, who is retiring from the House at the end of his tenure, said in his farewell speech that the House should pay attention to the rules and procedures of the Rajya Sabha.

“Pay attention to the rules and procedures of the Rajya Sabha. Why are there disruptions today? Why are we shying away from discussion, why is the Government shying away from discussion? Somewhere the Opposition feels that it is not being given an opportunity to present its views. That is why we take support of disruptions,” Khan had said.

Several retiring members had also raised the issue of frequent disruptions in the House and suggested emulation of the examples of the House of Lords and the House of Commons in Britain.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lamented that the retiring MPs were unable to participate in discussions on crucial issues, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said it would be unfair to blame the Opposition for forcefully raising people’s issues in the House, virtually justifying the protests.