Issue of adjournment motion notices raises heat in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Noisy scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha today as the government expressed concern over members frequently giving notices for adjournment motion, eliciting sharp response from Opposition members.

Raising the issue as soon as the House met, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that giving notices almost every day for suspension of Question Hour would "dilute the importance of such notices".

Question Hour belongs to members of the House and adjournment motion notices should be taken up only based on the merit of the issue, Naidu said.

Congress members, including Jyotiraditya Scindia and K C Venugopal, protested the Minister's statement.

Amid the protests, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan also told the Opposition that "you have made it a practice" of regularly giving notices for adjournment motion.

Today too, such notices were given by some members which were rejected by the Speaker who said the issues raised in them could be discussed during Zero Hour.

While the protesting members said that giving adjournment motion notices was part of parliamentary practice, Naidu retorted saying that the practices in the last ten years should be looked into.