Azad turns to SMS to improve MP attendance

And, working hard to make this happen before the Budget session ends, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry is busy collecting the mobile numbers of MPs.

If everything works out, MPs would get regular updates on Parliamentary business, debates and even calls from their party chief whips telling them to be present in the House through text messages. With this, the members would no longer be able to complain about not having advance information on the details of the day’s business or last-minute changes in the schedule.

‘‘We hope to launch the service before the Budget session ends,’’ said Secretary Parliamentary Affairs V.K. Agnihotri said.

For the purpose of better transmission of information, the ministry plans to classify the MPs into sub-groups — one batch of information would be meant for whips and chief whips of all political parties, another for leaders and deputy leaders, the third for UPA MPs and the last for Opposition members. Even information on the Parliamentary Committee meetings would be intimated through text messaging.

The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry plans to have a group of dedicated staff to operate the system round the clock, officials said, adding that would help the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to be in constant touch with the members.

‘‘Sometimes there are last-minute changes in the business. This would ensure that no one is outside the information loop,’’ Agnihotri added.