Venkaiah Naidu says Rajya Sabha not engaging in hurried legislation

New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has called for codification of guidelines for scrutiny of bills by parliamentary committees.

The suggestion comes in the wake of 15 political parties’ alleging that the opposition voice has been “smothered” in this session, a charge the ex-officio chairperson of the Rajya Sabha dismissed.

Soon after the Upper House proceedings began on Monday, Naidu made a statement to clear the air on the letter written by the 15 political parties in which they had complained that House was not taking up enough short duration discussions and that the House was engaging in “hurried legislation” by not sending bills to select committees.


In his remarks, the Vice President said over the past 30 years, less than three short duration discussions have taken place per session and a maximum of eight per year.

Naidu said that in the last two years of his chairmanship, 10 bills were first introduced in the Upper House till the last session and, though not mandatory, he referred eight of them to the respective standing committees. “I hope that all of you would agree that such a record would not justify the allegation if it is so intended that the Rajya Sabha is a party to hurried legislation,” Naidu said.

Naidu suggested that there should be a codification of guidelines on the issue of sending bills to the parliamentary committees for scrutiny.

He also assured the House that as Chairman he will not allow any effort to “undermine the rights and privileges” of the members.

“I followed this dictum during the last two years as is borne out of the facts I have stated earlier and will continue to do so in future. You can be rest assured,” he said.

The Vice President also noted that between 2014 and 2019, 40% of valuable time of the House was lost due to disruptions. This not only undermines the rights and privileges of members but also erodes the stature of the Upper House, he said.