Government on Friday said it was not practical to have more than 100 sittings of Parliament and state legislatures in a year saying the need was to have quality and meaningful debates.
"There is a need to have quality and meaningful debates in Parliament and state legislatures. I respect the sentiments of the members...But it may not be desirable," Minister of Parliamentary Affairs P K Bansal told the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a private members Bill to have more than 100 sittings of Parliament and state legislatures in a year, he said the effort of the government will be to have more days.
He said to determine the number of days it was important to see what business the government had. The minister said that in this session 10 bills have been referred to Standing Committees and unless these come back, how can discussions take place.
Bansal agreed that over the years the standard of debate has "deteriorated" and the number of sittings of the two Houses come down.
"The quality of business we transact is important. Our primary concern is to make maximum use of time," he said.
The minister said it will be "impractical" to make it mandatory that 100 sittings have to be held, as if it did not happen for whatever reason, it would tantamount to violating the Constitution.
On repeated adjournments of the two Houses, he said for days together, Parliament is unable to meet as the "sound of democracy prevails over the reasons of democracy". PTI
