52% Of Rajya Sabha Time Lost To Disruptions In 1st Week Of Winter Session

Over 52 per cent of Rajya Sabha's scheduled sitting time last week was lost to disruptions and protests, but high productivity on Thursday and Friday held out hope of a return to normal functioning.

Opposition MPs have been protesting over several issues, among them the suspension of 12 Upper House members for ruckus on the last day of the monsoon session.

While the Opposition members have slammed the suspension move as "undemocratic" and "selective", Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has refused to revoke the action, underlining that the suspended members have not "expressed remorse". However, he has added that it is for the House to take a view on its decision and it is for all concerned to take it forward.

In no mood to back down, the suspended MPs have been protesting near Mahatma Gandhi's statue on parliament premises. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has said the government was ready to consider revoking the suspension if the Opposition MPs apologised.

Productivity of the House during the last week has been 47.70 per cent of the scheduled time, a release said. It said the House sat for 33 minutes beyond the scheduled time on Thursday, raising overall productivity for the week to 49.70 per cent.

Thursday and Friday reported the highest productivity for the week, at 95 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively.

The release mentioned that the House took up the Private Members' Business for the full scheduled time of two-and-a-half hours on Friday. The last time this happened was on February 7, 2020 during the Budget session, it said.

In the first week of the session, two Bills -- Farm Laws Repeal Bill and the Dam Safety Bills -- were passed by the Rajya Sabha.