Even as Parliament has turned into a warzone with the government and the opposition up in arms against each other since the onset of the Monsoon Session, there is something that still unites our MPs across party lines – a designated smoking area.
Some Members of Parliament cutting across party lines have registered their protest against the removal of a designated smoking area in Parliament.The room set up for MPs who smoke had been closed as Parliament is a No Smoking Zone under Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act 2003.
The agitated MPs had also met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan earlier this week.
A group of MPs, both from the ruling party and the opposition, had met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan requesting for a 'smoking room' after the space adjacent to the Central Hall was converted for other use.
A stenographers pool is now using the room, till now being used by the members to enjoy a smoke.
"Please do not give the news or else anti-smoking activists would throw a spanner in getting an alternate accommodation," a BJP MP remarked.
A Congress MP, who was also a part of the delegation that met the Speaker, suggested that the place was not apt for stenographers.
The Speaker was asked the question on the issue by reporters during a meeting of the press advisory committee.
Mahajan said in half-jest that they should give-up smoking. She, however, immediately added that she had to look after everyone's demands.
An informal arrangement of having a smokers room was made after Central Hall and lobbies in Parliament House were declared a "no smoking" zone in 2004 by the then Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee.(With PTI Inputs)
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