Rajya Sabha to have 'stopwatch' and 'reverse clock' devices

In a move aimed at better time management during its sittings, the Rajya Sabha will soon have a "stopwatch" and a "reverse clock".

The devices are aimed at ensuring that members and parties stick to their timings so as to have maximum business in the minimum time possible.

The stopwatch will be displayed prominently in the House to remind a member to stick to his time while raising a supplementary or asking a question.

The reverse clock would inform the party about the time consumed by its members while taking part in a debate.

The innovative ideas have been thought of by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari whose endeavour to restrict within three minutes the submissions during Zero Hour has been effective and widely welcomed.

"These are part of efforts of the chairman for better management of the time of the House," Rajya Sabha secretary general VK Agnihotri told PTI.

The software for the stopwatch and reverse clock are being developed and these are likely to be operational in the next session.

Incidentally, the just concluded Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth has generated some fresh ideas in the minds of the officials of the Upper House.

The immediate result is a move to get video recordings of Question Hour in Parliaments of New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada, Agnihotri said.

The New Zealand speaker told the Conference that he takes up as many as 72 questions during the Question Hour and the speaker of Canadian Parliament said he gives a member 35 seconds to ask a question.

The Rajya Sabha, which has recently made certain far-reaching amendments in the rules to prevent collapse of Question Hour, now wants to study them as also the practice being followed in the United Kingdom.

This material could be useful to new members while training them on how to ask questions during Question Hour and how to be more effective in the least possible time, Agnihotri said.

In order to put Question Hour to maximum use, the Rajya Sabha Rules Committee had recently amended the rules under which even if the mover of the question was absent, it would be taken up.

Under this initiative, if the main questioner is absent, the Chair will allow three other members to put supplementaries during Question Hour, considered an important avenue to get the government's response on various issues.

In the just concluded Winter Session, Question Hour in the Lok Sabha collapsed on November 30 when 28 members who had given notices for questions were absent.

Ansari had last year streamlined proceedings during Zero Hour by restricting members to raise their mentions only for three minutes after which the microphone will go off.