Rajya Sabha to drop ‘no, sir’ usage and give gender neutral responses

Referring to a letter written by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the secretariat informed that ministries will be informed to provide gender-neutral responses from the next Rajya Sabha session

The Rajya Sabha secretariat on Wednesday said it addressed the “anomaly” in responses to questions raised by women parliamentarians using ‘no, sir’.

RS MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had raised the issue through a letter. (Rajya Sabha)

Referring to a letter written by Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, the secretariat informed that ministries will be informed to provide gender-neutral responses from the next Rajya Sabha session.

“The ministries will be informed to furnish gender neutral replies to the parliamentary questions from the next session of Rajya Sabha onwards,” said the director of the secretariat’s committee section Swarabji B in his response.

The secretariat added that all proceedings in Rajya Sabha are addressed to the Chair as per conventions and rules of procedure and conduct of business.

“Replies to the parliamentary questions being part of the proceedings are also addressed to the Chairperson only,” it said.

Welcoming the step, Chaturvedi said in a tweet, “Small step, big difference. Thank the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for correcting the anomaly in Parliament question responses from ministries to women MPs. Henceforth the replies will be gender neutral from the ministries.”

On August 8, the Rajya Sabha MP wrote to the union minister of parliamentary affairs Prahlad Joshi seeking his intervention in the matter related to responses provided in the Parliament to women parliamentarians.

“The phrase ‘No, Sir’ is often used in cases where the answer is in the negative. As a woman parliamentarian, it is concerning to observe the institutional gender mainstreaming by the temple of democracy – Parliament itself,” she wrote.