Rajya Sabha adjourned till 5th March

I am reading this out with a heavy heart, and I hope everyone will understand. With the 1st part of the 245th session of Rajya Sabha coming to an end, we shall meet again after a month. I am deeply pained for the utter disregard for the parliamentary procedure and the unruly behaviour, so unbecoming of the high position we occupy in the society as parliamentarians.

Dear members, the question I have been asking myself, and probably many Indians watching the live parliament sessions on the television screens would be thinking, ‘can we ever make our parliament an effective instrument of change through informed debate, constructive criticism and orderly proceedings? I was hoping that we shall collectively strive to uphold and maintain the dignity, sanctity and supremacy of parliament, as we treated in 2012 to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the sitting of the Parliament. I shall still keep hoping that we shall exercise the necessary restraint and behave with appropriate civility and dignity. I find it a sad commentary that on the functioning, that we had nearly 10 hours during this brief session due to disruptions and forced adjournments. We could not have question hour on 5 days, and no zero hours on 5 days.

Dear members, we certainly should not go in this manner, any longer. I appeal to each one of you please consider this as a sacred institution which should reflect the hopes and aspirations of 130 crore people.

This is not aimed at any party. As far as the chair is concerned, I’m concerned about the house.

it is the institution that decides the destiny and charts the direction of national development. That’s why people have high hopes for us.

We are so privileged to be in this house because of the people’s trust in us. We must use the opportunity wisely by debating, discussing and evolving solutions to a vast number of public concerns. Let us not have slanged matches between parties and stoop down to competing with each on unparliamentary language or behaviour. When we meet again in March, it is my fervent hope and earnest appeal to each one of you, that we turn a new leaf in our parliament history through orderly informed and constructive debate.

Honourable members over the last few days, I have been telling the floor leaders of the quality debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President.

I request every one of you to please keep the prestige, the decorum of this august house. We are supposed to be elder. So keep that in mind and respond in such a manner, so that the prestige of the house goes up. I am keen that such atmosphere and quality debates will become a regular feature like we had in the recent past.