Directions against holding protests common, issued before every session: former LS secretary general

NEW DELHI: According to former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PDT Achary, the row over the direction against holding protests in the Parliament complex is uncalled for as it’s a routine process. “The secretariat issues general directions on the eve of every session.

Along with the dos and don’ts, the bulletin says the premises of the House shouldn’t be used for demonstrations or protests,” said Achary. Referring to the protests over the ‘banned’ words,  he said the list is periodically updated and contains expressions which have been treated as unparliamentary by the Speaker in the past.

“The LS secretariat published a booklet in 2010 when I was the secretary general. There are common words like liar or abusive words which are considered unparliamentary,” he said but agreed that words like ‘abuse’ or ‘corruption’ are commonly used and need not be removed or expunged.