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Speaker’s plan for 100-day sittings

Neena Vyas

— PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar presides over an all-party meeting she convened in New Delhi on Thursday, before the start of the winter session of Parliament. The others in the photo (from right) are Deputy Speaker Karia Munda, Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader L.K. Advani and Janata Dal(S) president H.D. Deve Gowda.

NEW DELHI: A meeting of party leaders will be called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar soon to elicit suggestions on how to schedule parliamentary sessions to ensure “100-day sittings.”

The Speaker has, on several occasions, suggested that Parliament be in session for at least 100 days a year, and at a meeting of party leaders called by her on Thursday, members agreed on this. They wanted to work out the modalities, which will be done at a separate meeting Ms. Kumar said she would call.

Heritage committee

An important decision taken on Thursday was on the basis of a suggestion by Ms. Kumar that a heritage committee be set up, with a technical committee of architects, historians and other experts to help it to ensure that the architectural beauty and character of the Parliament House is not damaged irreversibly.

It was agreed by party leaders that a joint parliamentary committee be set up in consultation with the Rajya Sabha Chairman for this purpose. All major political parties are expected to be represented on the committee. It was felt that “not a nail” should be hammered into the building anywhere without the permission of the heritage committee once it was set up, most likely during the winter session that starts on November 19.

Ms. Kumar said she expected the winter session to be a “stormy affair,” with leaders indicating that they wanted to raise the issue of price rise; agricultural problems, including farmers’ distress due to drought and floods; farmers’ agitation on sugarcane price; and internal security issues, especially naxalism. No one apparently mentioned the recent Karnataka turmoil.

Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Basudeb Acharia and Communist Party of India’s Gurudas Dasgupta wanted a discussion on the economic situation, while almost all parties wanted the focus to be on price rise.

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