YSRCP seeks fixing of 120 days sitting for LS

New Delhi: YSRC Parliamentary Party leader V Vijayasai Reddy, on Monday demanded fixing up of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha sittings at 100 and 120 days respectively henceforth as important issues were not getting adequate attention of the House.

Speaking at an all-party meeting held on Monday, he said Parliament productivity had gone down recently. Last year, the Parliament sat for just 56 days and the average sitting days per year had decreased from 120 days in the 1950s' to 60 days currently.

Citing the example of other democratic countries in the world, he said the US Congress sat for 160 days while the British Parliament sat for around 150 days.

He said the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution in 2002 recommended that the minimum number of days for sittings should be fixed at 100 and 120 days for the two Houses.

He said the long-standing demand for 33 per cent reservation for women in Union and state legislatures should be taken up for discussion alongside the fall out of the farm Bills, including the legal right to MSP for all crops. Lack of it had exposed the farmers to huge financial risks, he said.

In view of the vast coastline of the country, aquaculture needed to be promoted further as the coastal economy supported over three crore people and contributed Rs 1.5 trillion to the GDP. Caste-wise enumeration of BCs in the upcoming decennial census is necessary to formulate scientific policies for their welfare, he said. Cyber security was another area crying for attention as frauds were increasing phenomenally in this sector.

He also referred to several pending issues of Andhra Pradesh like the Special Category Status, clearance of pending issues related to the Polavaram project as well as sanction of new medical colleges, etc.,