KK Ragesh urges RS Chairman to reconsider suspension of question hour, private members' business
Sep 02, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 3 : Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP, KK Ragesh has written to Rajya Sabha Chairman urging him to reconsider the decision to suspend question hour and private members' business during the monsoon session of the Parliament.
"The decision to suspend Question Hour and Private Members' Business is conspicuous and amounts to be the blatant violation of parliamentary ethos that India has followed till date," the letter read.
Ragesh said that the question hour represents the members' right to know facts about government policies, programs etc and added that the private members' business acts as means to ensure that the aspirations of the society are reflected in the Parliament.
"Hence, the decision to suspend Question Hour and Private Members' Business is an effort to negate accountability of the government and to supress the voice of the opposition and ultimately to neglect the burning issues of the people being raised in the House especially by the Opposition," Ragesh said through the letter.
He further alleged that by "curtailing the role of the opposition", the government is aiming only at "whetting the ordinances, which are promulgated only to generously held the corporate."
Earlier, Congress too had raised questions over suspension of the question hour and demanded it to be reinstated.
There will be no question hour and private members' business during the monsoon session which is being held in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The session, which begins from September 14, is slated to conclude on October 1.
The budget session of Parliament started on January 31 and continued till February 11. It recommenced on March 2 in its second leg and was scheduled to end on April 3. However, it was adjourned sine die on March 23 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The monsoon session of Parliament has been delayed due to COVID-19.
