'More than Rs 133 crore of taxpayers' money lost due to Parliament disruptions'

NEW DELHI: The Parliament has functioned for less than 17% of the total times and more than Rs 133 crore of taxpayers' money has been lost due to disruptions.
"Lok Sabha has only been allowed to function for about seven hours out of possible 54 hours. Rajya Sabha has been allowed to function for 11 hours out of possible 53 hours. So far Parliament has functioned only 18 hours out of possible 107 hours (16.8 percent)," news agency PTI reported quoting sources.
The disruptions have led to a loss of more than Rs 133 crore to the exchequer, they said.
Ever since the Monsoon Session began on July 19, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been seen repeated disruptions and have failed to transact any business after opposition uproar in favour of their demand for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row.
Both Congress and BJP have blamed each other for disruption of proceedings in the Parliament.
The opposition has insisted that it will not call off its protests inside Parliament without the government allowing a full-fledged debate on the alleged snooping using Pegasus software.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi blamed the government for the current deadlock in Parliament and alleged it was trying to avoid answering pertinent questions raised by the opposition.
Meanwhile, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi said that the controversy was a "non-issue" and that the government was ready for discussions on people-related issues.
(With PTI inputs)