Some MPs, in an informal conversation with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Vice President of the country, Venkaiah Naidu, said that there is also a special allowance for attending these meetings regularly.
Venkaiah Naidu
The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Vice President of the country, Venkaiah Naidu has sought a report on the attendance in the meetings of the Parliamentary Standing Committees. People with knowledge of the matter said that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has been asked to prepare the report. Some MPs, in an informal conversation with Naidu, said that there is a special allowance for attending these meetings on a regular basis. Under this, 25 percent of the air tickets of the MPs who come to these meetings are borne.
Also, MPs get a daily allowance of Rs 2000 for attending the meetings of Parliamentary Committee and House Panel. The Rajya Sabha Speaker told the Secretariat that the purpose of this report is to increase the attendance of MPs in the meetings, not to review it. Significantly, after the end of the winter session of Parliament on December 22, there was a discussion between the MPs present in the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker regarding the low attendance of MPs in the Parliamentary Committee.
This issue was discussed on 21st December
The issue was also discussed in a meeting on December 21 between Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the chairpersons of the 16 standing committees of the House. Some leaders proposed that a quorum or a minimum attendance of 10 (one-third of a panel) members should not be mandatory for all meetings. At least three chairpersons suggested that a quorum should be required for the preparation or adoption of the report.
Attendance has improved a lot in three years: Naidu
An MLA who attended the meeting argued that witnesses are often forced to return without statement due to lack of quorum. Other MPs argued that if the quorum requirements are removed, the hassles related to rescheduled meetings could be avoided. Naidu told the leaders that he was closely monitoring the attendance at the meetings of the eight committees of the Rajya Sabha. He said that attendance has improved a lot in the last three years.
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