Speaker draws praise for running Lok Sabha for hours

New Delhi: In a rare move, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday extended the Zero House from usual 1 hour to 2.5 hours without a break in order to give opportunity to the new Members of Parliament to raise their issues.

The Speaker while chairing the proceedings of the House delayed the lunchtime to accommodate requests from members to raise their issues during the Zero Hour. The Zero Hour normally is between 12 to 1 pm. But on Wednesday it went on till 2.30 pm when the House was adjourned for lunch for 30 minutes.

Lok Sabha members appreciated the Speaker for this effort. While BJP member from Meerut, Rajendra Agrawal (BJP), thanked Mr Birla for allowing members to raise matters during Zero Hour and conducting proceedings of the House continuously for nearly three hours in an “unprecedented” move, senior TMC member Saugata Roy said the Speaker has “forgotten his hunger pangs” and is running the House at a stretch.

Another BJP member Gopal Shetty also praised Mr Birla for mandating that ministers should give reply within a month to matters raised during the Zero Hour Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Bill replaces an Ordinance that was promulgated on March 2, 2019.