Rajya Sabha returns to normal functioning after 41 sittings of disruption

Rajya Sabha is back to disruption-free proceedings for the first time in the past 11 months and after 41 sittings with the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address running smoothly, a development acknowledged by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday

Wednesday witnessed the first day after March 19 last year when the House saw normal functioning without any disruption or adjournments in between. Sources said the sitting on December 13 last year was also disruption-free but it was a Private Members' Day when disruptions are rare.

Sources said the last disruption-free full session was the 216th session in June 2009 when ministers of UPA-II were introduced in the Rajya Sabha. The two such occasions for NDA governments in 2014 and 2019 witnessed disruptions, they said.

On Thursday, Naidu said the Rajya Sabha witnessed disruption-free proceedings "after a long gap" and it was "delightful to watch quality debate".

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"Debates yesterday were marked by the assertion of achievements of the ruling party on one side and its contestations by the Opposition on the other side. This is the advantage of smooth functioning of the House. I hope this spirit will continue for the remaining part of the Budget Session and also in the future," he said.

When asked whether the Opposition would disrupt the House on the Pegasus issue, a senior Opposition leader quipped, "only Motion, no commotion".

Naidu also rejected a notice submitted by CPI(M) MP Dr V Sivadasan seeking suspension of the House to discuss Pegasus.

On Wednesday, seven MPs -- two from BJP Geeta alias Chandraprabha and Shwait Mallik, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Trinamool Congress' Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav, DMK's Tiruchi Siva and CPI(M)'s Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya -- spoke on the Motion of Thanks.

Rajya Sabha has allotted 12 hours for the discussion on the Motion of Thanks and the debate is likely to conclude on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reply to the debate in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Last Winter Session (November-December 2021), Rajya Sabha lost 52.10% of its sitting time to disruptions while in Monsoon Session (July August 2021), the loss of functional time of Rajya Sabha was as high as 70.40%.

"This trend of disruptions is highly disturbing. I refer to the same with a fervent hope that we all reflect on the same and conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the historic time that we are passing through," Naidu had said on Wednesday while making observations on the ongoing Budget Session.

Last year's Budget Session had clocked productivity of 93.50% and the "spirit of the occasion demands that this House turns out the best performance during this important Budget Session", Naidu said.

He session acquires added significance as the nation is collectively keen and endeavouring to lift the national economy out of the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years.

"Threats to the economy are still continuing with the third wave of the pandemic at present. The world is living in uncertainty on account of this pandemic. This reminds all of us of our responsibilities to do the needful to overcome the challenge and secure the socio-economic transformation of our country, which is a work in progress," he said.

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