Ensure MPs attend Par panel meets: Naidu to RS leaders

Concerned at the low level of attendance in Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has written to floor leaders urging them to ensure that their members regularly attend the deliberations without fail.

Naidu's letter to the leaders of 29 parties in Rajya Sabha on December 6 suggesting to institute a mechanism in the party for regularly monitoring of attendance and counselling came a day after he met Chairmen of eight Standing Committees under Rajya Sabha where he minced no words expressing his anger and anguish over the poor attendance in these panels.

In the letter, Naidu said parties are central to the effective functioning of Parliamentary democracy and Standing Committees are so constituted to ensure representation of political parties based on their strength in each of the Houses of Parliament.

"If the MPs belonging to a party absent themselves from the meetings of the Standing Committees, the view point and concerns of respective parties on issues under consideration will not be reflected in the reports. Moreover, since each MP of the Standing Committee represents 25 MPs, if one Member does not attend a meeting of the Committee, it amounts to denying the voice of as many Members of Parliament being reflected in the meetings of the Committees," he said.

Forty-four parties are represented in both the houses of Parliament, including 31 in Rajya Sabha and 37 in Lok Sabha. Thirteen parties represented in Rajya Sabha do not have any Lok Sabha MP and similar is the case in respect of seven parties represented in Lok Sabha.

Sources said only the BJP and the Congress have combined strength of 386 and 98 respectively, which ensures them a minimum representation of three Members on each DRSC. Three other parties which are represented by at least one MP are Trinamool Congress, DMK and YSRCP 24.

If any of the Members of the remaining non-BJP and non-Congress parties fail to attend the meetings, the view point of these parties would go unheard by the Committee and this concern was raised by Naidu in the letter, sources said/

Last week, DH reported that around 100 out of 248 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs in eight panels under the Rajya Sabha have not attended two or more meetings since its reconstitution in September this year. Only 18 of the 80 Rajya Sabha MPs and 18 out of 168 Lok Sabha members attended all the 41 meetings of the eight Parliamentary Standing Committee meetings.