“Parliament belongs to everyone and all the members here come with the aspirations, hopes and as the voice of the many lakh people who have elected them. So every view point presented by the members in the House is important,” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla told reporters on Friday at the conclusion of the 2nd session of the 17th Lok Sabha.
“Yes sometimes things do get done and said impulsively but every single member in the House is disciplined and responsible,” he added, responding to questions about this session seeing some adjournments and several members being involved in controversies about what they said/behaved in the House.
The Speaker noted that the matter of the Treasury Bench seeking apology from two Congress MPs for their alleged misbehaviour with Union Minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha has been referred to a committee.
“No decision has been taken so far,” he said. “But by far the members have cooperated enough to conduct parliament business for 130 hours and 14 min during this winter session. The House registered 115% productivity. This session saw some adjournments all of which were done with a very heavy heart,” said the Speaker.
“But I have to say that I was a lot more relaxed this session because I had some experience and also got to know the members at a personal level which is vital to conduct an efficient House,” he said.
The Speaker noted that now an initiative has been taken to frame a “common code of conduct” for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies while aiming for “healthy discussions” during sessions.
“This will be in place latest by March next year. We are also working at saving ₹100 crore in the next financial year through the various measures that we will take in Parliament. This is people’s money and we are accountable for every rupee,” he said.
The session saw the passage of 14 Bills and introduction of 18 others.
Mr. Birla also expressed confidence that Parliament sessions in 2022, when India will celebrate its 75th year of independence, will be held in a new building.
“We are working to have our session in a new Parliament building when we celebrate 75 years of independence. I am hopeful that it will be completed by 2022,” he said.
Debates and discussions, including those held during the British rule, have been digitised and are now available in the public domain, he added.
Highlighting some milestones of this session, he said for the first time since 1972 all 20 starred questions were answered by ministers concerned on one day during the Question Hour.
"It had never happened earlier as there used to be 30 starred questions before 1972, when they were reduced to 20,"he said.
Lok Sabha Secretariat also sent 337 MPs over 3,700 video clips which were recordings of their interventions in the House during Zero Hour and some other proceedings.
"This is a new initiative that we have started and it has been very popular. We have also holding workshops to create awareness about Parliamentary proceedings, bills etc among new MPs. We are also reaching out to them via phone etc about the various bills too," he said.
Replying to allegations by the Opposition that bills to be passed aren't circulated in time he said:"Sometimes matters of urgent nature are brought to the House and it is introduced with the permission of the Speaker."
Asked about the post of deputy-speaker lying vacant despite the end of two sessions in the 17th Lok Sabha, Mr. Birla said a decision over the issue has to be taken by the Union government.
