shri vinod sharma - Rajya Sabha

see to it that the Zero Hour is no more a free for all, which would give you a lot of
reasons to cover which had a lot of tamasha. We have stopped it now. We have
made it compulsory for any Member to finish his submissions within three minutes. If
any Member would like to raise a matter, we allow it, but within three minutes. As
soon as three minutes are over, the mike goes off and his time is over. For the last
two Sessions, the Members are strictly following it. You would have observed that
even on a single day there had been no disturbance in the Zero Hour submissions
since the last two Sessions. Earlier, we used to provide opportunity to more than
two Members and one matter used to take one hour. Now, we are giving just 30
minutes for 10 Members. We also should make certain structural changes in our
working, I agree.
The last thing I would like to say is on a common complaint by the Members
of Parliament to the Presiding Officers. There are two portions of any day's Session.
The first two hours are taken by Question Hour and Zero Hour. Then there is a
lunch break. After that, we take up serious business of the House. Except certain
disturbances on major issues, the afternoon Session goes on peacefully all the time.
For the last five years, this is my experience as the Presiding Officer. Good debates
go on, particularly on Bills and Short Duration Discussions. I have discussed this
matter with the media friends also. In the afternoon Session, firstly, there is no
attendance in the Press gallery. Secondly, very many Members put all efforts to
speak on the floor of the House to place their points of view on various issues.
Hardly any issue, except the issues like the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal, as Mr. Naik
said, is reflected in the media. There are so many things which are discussed.
Except one or two known Members of Parliament, the debates of other Members,
who do a lot of homework and contribute a lot to the debate, are not covered. Their
names do not appear. Members ask, 'What is the alternative How do we reach out
to the media so that people see the Members speak seriously on their issues' This