Parliament: Fourth day lost and Rs 2.5 crore too

[1]

Pandemonium over varied issues by ruling party and opposition members in both houses of parliament on Thursday resulted in the loss of the third day of the winter session and another Rs.2.5 crore going down the drain.

The loss adds up to Rs.6.5 crore for the past three days.

In the first two days of the session, parliament lost about 17 hours work and over Rs.4 crore cumulatively, considering that rough estimates say that each hour of parliament's functioning costs the national exchequer Rs.25 lakh.

Both houses of parliament were adjourned for the day on Thursday without transacting any business after protests over rising inflation and the demand for a separate Telangana state.

Both houses have lost around 9 hours of work.

Lok Sabha members from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, including from the ruling Congress, flashed placards demanding a separate state.

The Left parties have been asking Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to consider their adjournment motion on price rise even as the government had agreed to have a discussion on inflation under rule 193 that doesn't entail voting.

Prime Miniser Manmohan Singh, ahead of the parliament's sitting on Tuesday, expressed the hope that all political parties ‘realise that we have important legislation to discuss in the winter session’ and that it runs smoothly.

The government has indicated it would like to complete the legislative business relating to bills on the Lokpal, whistle blowers protection, judicial accountability, pension fund, direct taxes, and goods and services tax bills in the winter session that concludes Dec 21.