PM chides party MPs for being absent from House

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed unhappiness over lack of quorum often delaying Parliament's functioning.  He cautioned party MPs that he will give a surprise call to anyone of them to find out their location during the session.

Modi, who has been insisting upon MPs to take their duties seriously since he became PM in 2014, reiterated at the BJP parliamentary party meeting that attending both the Houses was their basic responsibility.

The PM remarked that he “can do a lot of things, but cannot be present in the two Houses on their behalf”.

This was after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar drew the top leadership’s attention to the lack of adequate attendance during the Parliament session.

A BJP leader quoted the PM as saying “I can call any of you any time” to check absenteeism.
If not in their respective Houses during the session, the MPs are often found in Central Hall of Parliament, a place used by members to relax and hold conversations with others.

The PM felt that the MPs were so occupied with other work that they had little time to attend Parliament. But that should not be the case, Modi suggested. He told party leaders that being representatives of the people of their constituencies, it was their job to attend the House proceedings.

Briefing reporters on the meeting, Ananth Kumar said the PM laid out a ‘road map’ for the leaders and workers ahead of BJP’s foundation day on April 6 and Dalit icon B R Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14. He advised the over 11 crore party members to join panchayat- and municipal-level meetings during the week-long celebrations to mark the two events.
DH News Service