Speaker upset with disruptions of Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar expressed her anguish at frequent disruptions during Question Hour and said it was becoming “almost dead”.

The Speaker made this observation when Samajwadi Party members created an uproar for the third consecutive day during Question Hour over Uttar Pradesh government’s alleged highhandedness against the SP workers.

She disapproved of frequent storming into the well of the house by SP MPs over the arrest of party MP Akhilesh Yadav, who is also SP president of UP unit.

“You cannot disrupt the Question Hour in this fashion. You cannot destroy the sanctity of the Question Hour. Just go back to your seats," an angry Speaker told some SP members, who had been storming the Well during Question Hour since Monday. The Question Hour is almost dead, there is need to rejuvenate it," she said.

Earlier, Shailendra Kumar (SP) referred to the arrest of Akhilesh Yadav at the Lucknow airport by the UP police on Wednesday when he was on his way to lead an agitation against the Mayawati government. The SP members stormed the Well after voicing their concerns as the Speaker continued with the Question Hour amid slogan shouting.

As this went on for a while, Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy, Sanjay Nirupam (Cong) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) went to the SP members and requested them to go back to their seats.

When Speaker said that all the members had protection of the Chair, the SP member relented and returned back to their seats.

The observation by the Speaker came a day after Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari shifted the timing of the Question Hour from 11 am to 2 pm in view of frequent disruptions the moment the Upper House met for the day.

Registration of Courier Services

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal told Lok Sabha that the government will soon be amending the Indian Telegraph Act to make registration of courier services mandatory. As of now, registration is not must in any law.