Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday expressed seriousness over the absence of MPs who comment during discussions but appear to be missing from the House when ministers reply to them.
Lok Sabha Speaker said that after making any kind of remarks during the debate in the House, when ministers reply to them, those MPs seem to be missing from the House. Om Birla said that he will also talk to the parties regarding the missing MPs by raising the issue of discussion in the House. He said that he would ask leaders of all parties not to send them (MPs who are absent) during the discussion in the House.
The speaker barred Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from answering questions of members who had disappeared from the House. At the time when the speaker showed this strictness, the discussion on the budget of Jammu and Kashmir was going on in the Lok Sabha.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was replying to a point raised by a member of Congress who was not present in the House at that time. She was replying to a debate on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s budget for 2022-23 and Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2021-22. The Speaker said the minister need not react on the issue as the members were not present.
Lok Sabha Speaker said, “I have given serious thought to the MPs who are not in the House and it is a matter of deep concern. Don’t give any reply. And, I will also tell their parties that they should be kept in the House during the debate. I should not be dropped.”
However, later in the Lok Sabha, while replying to a discussion on the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 and the supplementary demands for grants for the financial year 2021-22, Sitharaman said that while talking about ‘Kashmir Files’ The truth of that time should be remembered that when so much was happening to the Hindus, how did they come out of it. Despite this, the things that are coming out show denial of the situation, he said.