The Women’s Reservation Bill had not yet received a burial and Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi was still hopeful of reaching an all-party consensus on the Bill at a meeting on June 16. Speaking to the press at the conclusion of the Budget Session today, Joshi said he had asked party leaders to give him their proposals on the Bill. This time, he said, there was no unamimity on the Bill, and that is why it was deferred. For The Record New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj declared that the number of hours lost during this Budget Session of Parliament were lesser than previous years. Giving figures, she said just over 10 hours were lost during the current session, whereas 59 hours were lost in 2000, 73 hours in 2001 and 63 hours in 2002. In Rajya Sabha, she said, while 46 hours were lost last year, only about eight were lost this year. — ENS The issue may not even be resolved on June 16 and may require more meetings, he said. Ruling out a special session of Parliament for the passage of the Bill, he said: “I don’t think we will go for a special session but will bring the Bill in the next session of Parliament,” he said.He also rejected a charge made at him that he was ‘‘restrained’’ by his party Shiv Sena’s anti-Bill stand. ‘‘My party chief has never come to me on this issue,’’ he said, adding that as CM of Maharashtra in 1996, he himself had moved a resolution in the state Assembly, urging the Centre to pass the Bill.To a question about the Congress and CPI-M disfavouring marshalling out of noisy members for smooth debate on the Bill, Joshi said that in a democracy issues could be discussed and a via media found. There was unanimity on this at the leaders’ meeting on May 6 and they felt the Bill should be brought when there is order in the House.‘‘I don’t want to ask members to go out with the help of marshals,’’ he said. To a question about the privilege notice given by Samata Party and BJP against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Shivraj Patil on action against party members for defying the boycott of Defence Minister George Fernandes, he said the matter was under consideration and had not been referred to the privileges committee. Moreover, he said, the members concerned had not complained to him.Joshi, who completed a year as Speaker, described the Session as ‘‘quite successful’’, with no adjournments for an entire day. All discussions, which the Opposition demanded, were agreed to. The House, during its 37 sittings spread over 239 hours, had also unanimously adopted a resolution deploring the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces led by the US.As many as 27 Bills were passed which included the Finance Bill (budget), Central Vigilance Commission Bill, Electricity Bill, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill and Constitution (95th and 96th) Amendment Bills. Important issues like the Indo-Pak relations, situation in Ayodhya and atrocities on Dalits were discussed.
