Rise above politics, use monsoon session to prepare for third wave of coronavirus, RS chairman Venkaiah Naidu tells MPs

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha chairman M Venakaiah Naidu on Monday urged MPs to rise above political considerations and to make effective use of the monsoon session of Parliament to ensure India is better prepared to tackle a third wave of the coronavirus, should it hit the country.
In his opening remarks on Day One of the Monsoon session, Naidu said the House offers an opportunity to resonate with the pain, aspirations and expectations of the people from the Parliament in their hour of need.
“Political parties are central to our democracy and the Parliament is no doubt a political institution in that sense. But it is much more than that given the mandate of Parliament. It should not be driven merely by political considerations. The pain, the suffering, the aspirations and the expectations of the people, the patrons of our parliamentary democracy shall guide the functioning of the apex legislature,” Naidu said.
He also said both the Government and all sections of the House need to “constructively ponder” over the course of events since the outbreak of the pandemic last year through informed discussions on all aspects of the problem. “We all are on test and I hope we acquit ourselves creditably by ensuring a productive monsoon session,” he added.
The RS chairman said that 224 members, accounting for 97% of the total have got vaccinated so far. These include 207 MPs who have taken both doses of vaccine and an additional 17 who have taken their first jabs. The remaining MPs could not take their jabs for medical reasons.
Despite the vaccination, Naidu urged members to comply with covid behavioural norms and lead by example.
Naidu also informed the House that department related standing committes under Rajya Sabha have reported their best performance so far during the inter-session period. He said 7 Committees of Rajya Sabha held 20 meetings. He also apprised the House that average attendance and duration of sittings had also increased, referring to his letter to chairpersons of Rajya Sabha Committees in February this year, urging them to ensure an average duration of 2 hours 30 minutes and attendance of 50% per meeting.
Average attendance in the meetings during the inter-session period has been about 49%, with the Committee on Commerce holding 6 meetings, followed by the Committee on Education, Women, Child, Youth and Sports, which held 3 meetings. In respect of attendance, the Committee on Education topped with 60.21%, followed by the Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture with 54.83% attendance and the Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law & Justice with an attendance of 51.78%.