In a first, Lok Sabha to launch digital attendance system to ensure presence of MPs during Budget session
LUCKNOW: In a first-of-its-kind move aimed at ensuring maximum attendance during the Budget session, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has decided to implement a new system to record the presence of MPs from their designated seats in the House. The Budget session is scheduled to begin from January 28 and will have two short recesses before ending on April 2.
Sharing the details with reporters in Lucknow on the sidelines of the 86th All India Presiding Officers’ Conference on Tuesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that earlier, members marked their attendance from outside the House chamber within the Parliament premises. This practice will now be discontinued and replaced by attendance marking from their designated seats, which will require them to be present inside the House.
He also clarified that no member would be able to mark their attendance after the House is adjourned, even if the adjournment is due to disruption or other reasons. "The consoles installed on the designated seats of members have the facility to record attendance through thumb impressions," Birla told The New Indian Express at the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He added that this step to ensure MPs’ attendance has been welcomed by a majority of members in Parliament.
The register which was kept outside the House will now be removed. MPs who used to leave after marking their attendance in the register, or arrive after the House was adjourned, will now have to be present in the House during the session. With the introduction of the new system, if the House has been adjourned when the MP reaches, their attendance will not be marked, resulting in the loss of one day’s salary and allowances.
Birla also noted that the proceedings of Parliament have gone digital and that the use of AI is being widely tested to ensure 100 per cent accurate results in real-time translation and other related parliamentary work. Regarding the impeachment brought against Justice Verma, Birla said that once the report of the expert committee is received, further steps will be taken. On whether impeachment proceedings would come up during the Budget Session, he said it was not possible to say anything at this stage.
Ahead of the Budget session, Birla also urged the Opposition to participate and engage in debate in the House. He said that merely raising slogans is not a solution to any problem or issue. On the possible stand of the Opposition during the Budget session, Birla said that he wants the House to function. “The Opposition should present its views in the discussion and the Opposition leaders can express their views in the motion of thanks on the President's address,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Birla on Tuesday said that the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly appears to be a “symbol of vibrant democracy” and credited Speaker Satish Mahana for adopting good practices in the country’s largest legislative assembly. Addressing participants on the second day of the conference, he said that the experiences of elected representatives, particularly those with notable professional achievements such as doctors, engineers and chartered accountants, have been effectively utilised, and that the experiences of various professional groups have been put to good use.
Birla also said that best practices, traditions, changes in rules, participation in democracy and new experiments undertaken by legislative assemblies are inspiring, and that all these were shared for discussion at the conference. He emphasised the need to set examples in the functioning of legislative institutions.
The second day of the conference featured deliberations on three key themes: leveraging technology for transparent, efficient and citizen-centric legislative processes; capacity building of legislators; and enhancing the efficiency and accountability of legislatures towards the people. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh inaugurated the conference on the second day and spoke about various initiatives.