New Delhi, Oct 27 (PTI) The committee of presiding officers for framing a uniform model of rules of procedure and conduct of business in legislative bodies discussed issues including session durations, attendance, adjournments, and gender-neutral references at a meeting held at the Delhi Assembly complex on Tuesday, officials said.
The committee’s suggestions included at least 30 annual sittings, digital notices, stronger scrutiny of Bills, gender-neutral vocabulary, and greater procedural autonomy for presiding officers.
The committee, formed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, will meet again before submitting its recommendations, the chairperson and UP Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana said at a press conference.
“Very important discussions were held, and several crucial suggestions were received during the meeting. We will have another meeting before submitting committee recommendations to the Lok Sabha Speaker,” he said.
Mahana said the committee is reviewing the rules and procedures of various Assemblies to see whether uniformity is possible. A member of the committee and Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said consensus on a model of rules and procedures is important, and the committee has also invited suggestions from the legislative assemblies of all states and Union territories.
“Uniform Rules cannot mean identical rules,” Gupta said, emphasising that the country’s legislative diversity must be respected. He batted for modernising legislative procedures, a Delhi Secretariat statement said.
He said the model rules must recognise the distinct constitutional frameworks of Assemblies in UTs, including Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.
Presenting Delhi’s recommendations at the meeting, Gupta emphasised the need for gender-neutral legislative rules, arguing that conventions retaining masculine expressions must give way to language that reflects contemporary democratic realities.
He sought clarity on elections to presiding offices, the delegation of the Speaker’s functions, and supported three annual sessions, Budget, Monsoon and Winter, and a minimum of 30 sittings for all State Legislatures, as well as formal recognition of electronic notices, summons, petitions and procedural communications, the statement said.
He recommended avoiding duplication between Zero Hour and Special Mentions, limiting Adjournment Motions to one per sitting, and leaving debate duration to the Speaker’s or House’s discretion.
Gupta suggested reconsidering the proposed 30-day suspension limit, maintaining that suspension and expulsion are distinct measures and that Legislative Houses must retain legally permissible disciplinary powers, including imprisonment and other appropriate punishments, it said.
The committee includes the Speakers of the Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Nagaland assemblies as members. The committee held its first meeting in Mysuru and its second in Delhi.
The entire meeting was conducted paperlessly.
Digital circulation of 12 sets of documents, comprising 1,521 pages each, saved an estimated 18,252 sheets of paper, the equivalent of about 4.4 trees and 18,252 litres of water, and reduced CO₂-equivalent emissions by an estimated 182.5 kg, the statement added. PTI VIT ASD
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