New Delhi: MPs promise to behave but they won’t be forced. Political parties on Thursday night rejected the idea of "no-work no-pay" for MPs disrupting Parliament.
They rejected any move to temporarily suspend MPs if come into the well of the House. “There was a commonality that no-work no-pay should not apply,” said Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee after a two-hour meeting with all parties.
No party at the meeting approved of the suggestion that members should be suspended for five consecutive sittings or the remainder of the session—whichever is less—for entering the well.
Parties however agreed that Question Hour should not be disrupted and accepted the suggestion that the House should have at least 100 sittings in a year.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi, UPA, NDA and UNPA leaders attended the meeting, where Chatterjee expressed his anguish over the frequent disruption of proceedings.
A PTI report says the per-minute expenditure on running the Lok Sabha will increase to Rs 24,632 in 2007-08 as per the latest Budget estimates from Rs 22,089 in 2006-07.
Chatterjee, earlier in the day, told MPs that he thought that children were more disciplined than them. “I am happy, children are more disciplined than you,” he said when he noticed some members chatting during Zero Hour.
A little later he spotted some members discussing something and objected: "What is this meeting (about)? Go to the lobby."
He also displayed his displeasure when members of ruling UPA and opposition NDA clashed over reservation and Sethusamudram project.
The meeting on Thursday evening came at a time when both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced slogan shouting and pandemonium leading to repeated adjournments, over various issues including the Indo-US nuclear deal.
(With PTI inputs)
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