Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah completed three years in office amid Covid-related uncertainties but also amid signals of an improved performance in the Upper House of Parliament, which he dubbed as “winds of change”.
Naidu cited in-House research and data analysis to show that the productivity of the Rajya Sabha has been declining over the last 25 years and the House could use 100% of its allotted time only once in 1999 during the last 20 years.
But in 2019, the average productivity climbed at 78.42% during 2019, the highest usage of time since 2010. Naidu said that after he began his innings, the productivity in the three sessions before the 2019 general election stood at 28.90%, 27.3% and just 6.8%. After the polls, the last three sessions saw 104%, 99% and 76% productivity.
Of the 93 bills passed by Rajya Sabha during his tenure, 60 were passed during the last three sessions. He said, “Despite the given composition of the House and stated positions of different parties, Rajya Sabha has passed some major bills like the Triple Talaq Bill, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the J&K Reorganisation Bill.