Om Birla, the new Lok Sabha speaker is proving to be quite the trailblazer. Within a week of holding the office, he introduced massive changes in the way the House functions, which has seen many disrupted proceedings in the past, courtesy repeated interruptions and adjournments.
Unlike the previous speakers of the Lok Sabha, Birla sits through longer hours of the House proceedings and has reportedly delayed lunch to let more first-time parliamentarians raise pertinent issues. So far, he has handled disruptions well, not caving in under pressure for once.
He allowed first-time parliamentarians to speak for longer than usual by extending the Zero Hour (which is usually restricted to 60 minutes). Not only did he push back lunch hour to 2.30 pm, but he also sat through the entire proceeding. This act was highly praised by even Opposition MPs.
For instance, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Ray said: “You have forgotten your hunger pangs to give younger members a chance to speak. You are an example of how business should be conducted.”
He is also the first to speak in Hindi during all his conversations inside Parliament but not creating an issue if a member chose to speak in a language of their choice.
According to a Hindustan Times report, experts have deemed this to be a paradigm shift since all other speakers have historically preferred communicating in English. Interestingly, Birla has not even used commonplace words like “aye” and “no” while speaking to members during a vote on a Bill or a motion. He has either said “Haan ke paksh mein” (yes) or “naa ke paksh mein” (no).
Birla, who was elected the new Speaker unanimously on June 19, has already set the tone of how the House should function over the next five years.
Also, a day after getting elected to the post, Birla held a meeting with the senior floor leaders of various parties and informed them that he wishes to let more people raise important issues during the Question Hour. To ensure that happens, he requested that the questions are kept crisp and short and that the answers are similar too.
Notably, so far, eight questions have been raised in the Lok Sabha daily, which is higher than the average of 4.5 in the past five years. Eighty-four parliamentarians had raised questions during the Zero Hour, which is the highest recorded so far.
Birla has reportedly even cut short time of MPs trying to thank him for letting them address the House. For instance, when Khagen Murmu of Bengal’s Malda tried to thank him for letting him raise an issue, Birla said: “No member needs to thank the Chair. Your chance has come through the lottery, so you can speak straight away.”
On day one of him becoming the Speaker, Birla had warned a Bharatiya Janata Party MP that he will mention the latter’s name for disturbing the House proceedings (which is considered a major embarrassment).
Congress floor leader Adhir Chowdhury was also schooled when he had turned back to speak to his colleague Shashi Tharoor.
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