The Rajya Sabha transacted business only for one hour and 16 minutes during the first three days of the monsoon session as the Opposition raised several issues and sought adjournment of the proceedings.
The next two days of the week saw 5 hours 31 minutes of business transactions in the Upper House. The officials said the Rajya Sabha reported productivity of 26.9 per cent during the first week of the ongoing Monsoon Session.
A total of 18 hours and 44 minutes of the scheduled sitting time of the House has been lost due to disruptions and forced adjournments.
A discussion of around two-and-a-half-hour, accounting for 37 per cent of the total functional time on a Private Member’s Bill on the Right to Health on Friday, on the last day of the week helped in improving the productivity of the House.
The Question Hour could be taken up only on the last two days for a total time of 1 hour 50 minutes, amounting to 27 per cent of the total functional time of the House.
Some sections of the House insisted on taking up discussion on Price Rise and GST hike under Rule 267, suspending rules for taking up this issue. This led to disruptions and forced adjournments of the House.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu informed the House that it has been decided to take up a separate discussion on price rise.
He also spoke to some leaders of the Opposition seeking the return of normalcy in the House. Leader of the House Piyush Goyal also stated in the House that such a discussion can be taken up once the Finance Minister recovered from the Covid-19 infection.
During the first week of the current session, 22 of the 75 listed Starred Questions were orally replied to in the House. Five Special Mentions were made by the members.
The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prevention of Unlawful Activities) Bill, 2022 was discussed for 42 minutes with 8 members participating. Nine Private Members’ Bills were introduced during the week. Besides 30 newly elected members made oath/affirmations in the House.