In a hurry to go home, RS MPs block business

Not willing to miss their flight home, some Rajya Sabha members insisted that the House should close at 5 pm on Fridays.

On Friday, the House witnessed exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches on the House functioning beyond 5 pm.

As the House re-assembled at 2.30 pm after repeated adjournments in the first half of the day over the National Herald issue, government wanted to take up the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015 and The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 for consideration and passage.

Congress deputy leader in the House Anand Sharma said business hours should not be extended beyond 5 pm since many members have booked their tickets home. Leader of the opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also echoed similar views.

Traditionally, the second half of the Fridays after 2.30 pm are reserved for private member’s business, but the House can continue to function till 6 pm.

Congress members who have been blocking proceedings on the National Herald case rushed to the well and raised slogans against the government, prompting Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the House for half an hour.

When the House convened again, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the opposition seems unwilling to allow government business. If the issue is about timing, he said at least one bill should be passed in half an hour.

In the end though, the opposition succeeded in blocking the government’s attempt to push the legislative agenda. The government accepted their demand to postpone the business for next week, after which the House was adjourned for the day.