With the functioning of the upper house curtailed for eight consecutive days due to protests by Opposition parties seeking clarification from the government on the Pegasus spyware snooping issue, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat will now list all the issues that could not be taken up due to disruptions.
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Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu directed the Secretariat to list out all Zero Hour submissions and special mentions permitted by him, which members could not raise because of adjournments forced by the protests, in the house bulletin that records the business transacted in a day.
Members can raise issues of public importance during the Zero Hour and via the Special Mention submissions. “Rajya Sabha Bulletin is to give a brief account of what has been transacted during the day, but in the prevailing situation, it has been decided to give an account of what couldn’t be transacted due to disruptions,” a senior Rajya Sabha official said.
Wednesday’s bulletin was the first one to make this change. “Due to continuous disruptions in the proceedings of the house 14 matters to be raised with permission (zero hour submissions) and 15 special mention notices permitted by the Chairman on important matters of public importance could not be taken up,” it read.
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So far, three Bills have been passed in the Rajya Sabha amidst the din without any discussions. Mr. Naidu on Monday had pointed out that 90 members had been denied opportunities to raise issues of public importance.