Parliament Diary

Parliament met for the 18th Sitting of the Budget Session today.
 
Lok Sabha undertook a discussion on the flood and drought situation in
the country after which it undertook a Private Member Resolution on
implementing the recommendations of the National Commission of Farmers.
Rajya Sabha also met to consider a Private Member Resolution on the
continuous shortage of power and its adverse impact on the economic
development of the country.
 
Some MPs also raised the issue of the government not having released the
business for Parliament for the next week as of 3:30 pm today. In
response the acting Speaker stated that while it has been a convention,
it was not mandatory for the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to make a
statement on government business for the next week.

Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the issue stating that MPs are “unable to know what would be discussed on Monday,
and which Bills would be considered. The Members have to prepare
themselves in advance in order to be able to present their own case on
the Bills...”  

Private Member Resolutions
Private Member Resolutions can be raised by any MP who is not a
Minister. These are in the form of a recommendation, declaration of an
Act or policy of the government, or to call attention of the government
to an important policy matter.
  
Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have discussed two Private Member
Resolutions each in the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.  The
resolutions were:
 
Lok Sabha

• Creation of a new Union Ministry for the development of Himalayan States
• Take effective steps to implement the recommendations of the
  National Commission on Farmers also known as Swaminathan Commission to
  overcome the crisis in the agricultural sector 

Rajya Sabha

• Concern over the recent protests and complaints in the country
  against the levying of huge and inflated bills and charges by Public
  Private Projects (PPP)
• Concern over the continuous shortage of power and its adverse impact on the economic development of the country

In the 15th Lok Sabha, 10 Private Member Resolutions were raised in Lok Sabha and 16 were raised in Rajya Sabha.
 
Private Member Resolutions rarely get adopted by the House. The last
Private Member Resolution to get adopted in Lok Sabha was in 2003 when a
resolution regarding a ban on cow slaughter was adopted by the House.