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The tenure of Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu was marked by low productivity of the House to start with and a recovery later, said officials on Saturday.
Out of the 13 full sessions he presided over till the Budget session this year, the productivity of the first five sessions has been in the range of only 6.80 per cent to 58.80 per cent. It substantially improved in six of the next eight sessions clocking productivity in the range of 76 per cent to 105 per cent with five sessions working for about 100 per cent of the scheduled time. Fifty eight issues were primarily responsible for the disruptions and forced adjournments of the House during this period. "57 per cent of the sittings of Rajya Sabha have witnessed disruptions and forced adjournments of the House for either part of the day or a full day. The issue of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh was raised in 36 sittings across four sitting starting with the highest number of 24 times during the Budget session of 2018," read an official statement. The next four issues included the passing of three farm laws and farmers' protests, the Pegasus spyware, constitution of Cauvery Water Management Board and the suspension of 12 Members in the winter session of 2021. During Vice President Naidu's tenure about 78 per cent of the Rajya Sabha Members daily attended the House. While about 3 per cent didn't do so, 30 per cent of members reported full attendance in different sessions. Over the years since 1978 for which detailed data regarding the functioning of Rajya Sabha is maintained, the House has come to spend lesser and lesser time on its 'Oversight' function of ensuring the accountability of the executive to the Parliament primarily, due to sustained low utilization of Question Hour. (ANI)
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