Performance of Tamil Nadu MPs till the end of Winter Session 2014

The Third Session of Parliament (Winter Session 2014) ended on 23rd Dec 2014.  The 16th Lok Sabha commenced its business on 4th June 2014.  Till the end of Winter Session, the Parliament functioned for 55 days.  

The Lok Sabha functioned smoothly and worked for 98% of the scheduled time. The Rajya Sabha functioned for only 59% of the scheduled time due to disruptions by the opposition parties.  The Question Hour was more productive in the Lok Sabha than in the Rajya Sabha.  A higher percentage of questions were answered in this session than in any other session in the past ten years.  

On the contrary, the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha lasted only 3 minutes on 15 days, out of 22 days of this session.  The credit for the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha and particularly the Question Hour goes to Smt Sumitra Mahajan, Hon’ble Speaker, who handled firmly whenever disruptions were caused in the House.`

How to assess the performance of MPs?

Generally, the performance of the members can be assessed by their participation in the debates, in raising questions, in the introduction of private members bills and in their attendance. The cumulative performance of the Tamil Nadu MPs from the beginning of the first session till the end of third session (4.6.2014 to 23.12.2014) was analysed. Our analysis is based on the data released by the PRS Legislative Research (www.prsindia.org). 

Out of 39 Members elected from Tamil Nadu, one Member Shri Pon Radhakrishnan is a Minister of State.  Ministers do not sign attendance and do not participate in debates and ask questions.  Hence, he is excluded from this analysis.

Performance of Tamil Nadu Members – Debates

National Average for the entire 16th Lok Sabha (three sessions) is 8.8 debates per member.  Tamil Nadu has scored 8.5 debates per member. 

Shri P R Subramanim (Namakkal), Mr M Thambidurai (Karur) and Mr V Elumalai (Arani) have topped among the Tamil Nadu Members by participating in 16 debates each. 

Performance of Tamil Nadu Members – Private Members Bills

Private Members Bills provide an opportunity to individual members to introduce any bill individually, without the permission of their respective parties.  There have been instances where private bills have been accepted by the Government for introduction as a regular bill.  Even if the bill is not accepted, a detailed debate is allowed on the subject.  A total of 129 Private Members Bills have been introduced by 40 Members till the end of the winter session.

Unfortunately, none of the Tamil Nadu Members have introduced any Private Members Bill in these three sessions.  Probably because that 37 out of 39 Members belong to a single party (AIADMK), they do not want to take risk.  

The party leadership can encourage the Members to introduce Private Members Bills in the interest of the public. This is an important tool in the hands of MPs allowed in the Parliament procedures.

Performance of Tamil Nadu Members – Questions

Raising questions in an important tool in the hands of MPs to bring focus on important public matters for which the Ministers concerned need to provide their reply either orally in the Parliament or in writing. The members can ask supplementary questions and challenge the Ministers.

A total of 18,989 Questions (including supplementary questions) have been raised by all the Members in Lok Sabha and replied by the Government till the end of the winter session.

Among the States, Kerala tops the list with an average of 82 questions per member, followed by Maharashtra with an average of 81 per member. The national average is 38.

Average for Tamil Nadu is 38 questions per member. 

Mr T G Venkatesh Babu (Chennai North) is the topper among Tamil Nadu MPs. In all the three Sessions, he has raised 146 Questions.  During this Winter Session 2014 alone, he has raised 75 questions of national and state importance.  He has secured 100% attendance in all the three sessions.

He is also the overall topper among Tamil Nadu MPs with a total score of 159. He was a topper even in the earlier sessions also.

Mr P Venugopal (Tiruvallur) secures second position among Tamil Nadu Members raising 128 Questions in all the three sessions.  He has raised 60 questions during this Winter Session 2014 alone.  He secures second position in the overall tally  by securing 140 points.   He has taken up issues of national and state importance.

Performance of Tamil Nadu Members – Attendance

Out of 38 MPs (excluding one Minister), 19 MPs have secured 100% attendance.  The Average attendance of all the Members for Tami Nadu is 94%, the highest among all the States.  The National Average is 85%.

Our General observations

The overall performance score (debates + private members bills + questions) of Tamil Nadu is 43.5.  Although Tamil Nadu MPs have been attending the sessions regularly, their overall score is far below the national average of 47.1.

Also when we analyse the contents of the debates and questions of all the MPs, we find that all the members take up only state level or national level issues. They do not take up the constituency or district level issues.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been advising all the MPs to take up the micro level issues of their constituencies in the Parliament, so that the Government can take up such issues.

  

The  large contingents of MPs belonging to the same party AIADMK and most of them are new MPs.  AIADMK party should take initiatives to provide adequate training to their new MPs about the functions of the Parliament, so that they can compete with other Members at national level.

Sansad Ratna Team congratulates all the performers. The individual performance of all the 39 MPs are given below:

Courtesy:  www.prsindia.org

MP name	Constituency	Debates	Private Member Bills	Questions	Total	Attendance
T.G. Venkatesh Babu	Chennai North	13	0	146	159	100%
P. Venugopal	Tiruvallur	12	0	128	140	87%
P. Nagarajan	Coimbatore	8	0	99	107	100%
K. Parasuraman	Thanjavur	12	0	91	103	75%
P.R. Sundaram	Namakkal	16	0	84	100	96%
C. Gopalakrishnan	Nilgiris	7	0	86	93	96%
P. Kumar	Tiruchirappalli	11	0	71	82	95%
K.N. Ramachandran	Sriperumbudur	8	0	56	64	98%
K. Kamaraj	Kallakurichi	10	0	47	57	100%
M. Udhaya Kumar	Dindigul	8	0	49	57	91%
G. Hari	Arakkonam	9	0	46	55	100%
R. Gopalakrishnan	Madurai	8	0	45	53	96%
A. Anwhar Raajhaa	Ramanthapuram	6	0	43	49	80%
C. Mahendran	Pollachi	13	0	33	46	100%
A. Arunmozhithevan	Cuddalore	7	0	37	44	100%
K. Maragatham	Kancheepuram	9	0	28	37	100%
S.R. Vijayakumar	Chennai Central	8	0	29	37	98%
T. Radhakrishnan	Virudhunagar	2	0	28	30	100%
M. Vasanthi	Tenkasi	6	0	24	30	100%
V. Elumalai	Arani	15	0	14	29	100%
Munisamy Thambidurai	Karur	16	0	13	29	58%
P.R. Senthilnathan	Sivaganga	7	0	19	26	87%
V. Sathyabama	Tiruppur	8	0	17	25	100%
J. Jayavardhan	Chennai South	5	0	18	23	100%
K. Ashok Kumar	Krisnagiri	14	0	6	20	100%
K. Gopal	Nagapattinam	10	0	10	20	98%
R.K. Bharathi Mohan	Mayiladuthurai	11	0	7	18	100%
R.P. Marutharajaa	Perambalur	4	0	13	17	91%
S. Selvakumara Chinnayan	Erode	9	0	3	12	100%
B. Senguttuvan	Vellore	11	0	0	11	100%
Anbumani Ramadoss	Dharmapuri	4	0	7	11	58%
S. Rajendran	Viluppuram	2	0	8	10	98%
K.R.P.  Prabakaran	Tirunelveli	4	0	5	9	100%
R. Vanaroja	Tiruvannamalai	8	0	0	8	100%
V. Pannerselvam	Salem	7	0	0	7	98%
R. Parthipan	Theni	6	0	1	7	89%
J. Jeyasingh Thiyagaraj Natterjee	Thoothukkudi	6	0	0	6	100%
M. Chandrakasi	Chidambaram	3	0	0	3	89%
*P. Radhakrishnan	Kanniyakumari

·         *Ministers do not participate in debates, raise questions or introduce private members bills after they become Ministers.  They do not sign attendance.

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Performance of the Parliamentarians till the End of the Winter Session 2014

The winter session of the Parliament was held for 22 days from 24^th November 2014 to 23^rd Dec 2014.  The Lok Sabha functioned smoothly and worked for 98% of the scheduled time.  The Rajya Sabha functioned for only 59% of the scheduled time due to disruptions by the opposition parties.  The Question Hour was more productive in the Lok Sabha than in the Rajya Sabha.  A higher percentage of questions were answered in this session than in any other session in the past ten years.  On the contrary, the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha lasted only 3 minutes on 15 days, out of 22 days of this session.  The credit for the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha and particularly the Question Hour goes to Smt Sumitra Mahajan, Hon’ble Speaker, who handled firmly whenever disruptions were caused in the House.

Generally, the performance of the members can be assessed by their participation in the debates, in raising questions, in the introduction of private members bills and in their attendance.  The cumulative performance of the members from the beginning of the first session till the end of third session (4.6.2014 to 23.12.2014) was analysed. Our analysis is based on the data released by the PRS Legislative Research (www.prsindia.org). The Parliament functioned for 55 days during these three sessions.

Performance of Members – Debates

Among the States, the Kerala MPs participated in an average of 23.8 debates, followed by Rajasthan scoring 13.4 in the three sessions.  The national average is 8.6.

The following two Members have emerged toppers for participation in debates in the entire 16^th Lok Sabha.

PP  Chaudhary	BJP	Rajasthan	60 debates
M B Rajesh	CPIM	Kerala	56 debates

Performance of Members – Private Members Bills

Private Members Bills provide an opportunity to individual members to introduce any bill individually, without the permission of their respective parties.  There have been instances where private bills have been accepted by the Government for introduction as a regular bill.  Even if the bill is not accepted, a detailed debate is allowed on the subject.         The following two members have emerged toppers under this category in the entire 16^th Lok Sabha.

Arjun Ram Meghwal	BJP	Rajasthan	8 Private Members Bills
M K Raghavan	INC	Kerala	8 Private Members Bills

A total of 129 Private Members Bills have been introduced by 40 Members by the end of the winter session.

Performance of Members – Questions

Raising questions in an important tool in the hands of MPs to bring focus on important public matters for which the Ministers concerned need to provide their reply either orally in the Parliament or in writing. The members can ask supplementary questions and challenge the Ministers.

A total of 18,989 Questions (including supplementary questions) have been raised by the Members and replied by the Government till the end of the winter session.

Among the States, Kerala tops the list with an average of 82 questions per member, followed by Maharashtra with an average of 81 per member. The national average is 38.

The following two MPs are in the top position under the Questions category in the entire 16^th Lok Sabha.

Supriya Sule	NCP	Maharashtra	181 Questions
Shivaji Adhalrao Patil	SS	Maharashtra	179 Questions

Performance of Members – Attendance

65 MPs have secured 100% attendance in the entire 16^th Lok Sabha.  The national average for attendance is 85%.

Among the States, Tamil Nadu leads with an average attendance of 94% followed by Uttar Pradesh with an average attendance of 91%.  The overall performance score of Tamil Nadu is 43.1 and that of Uttar Pradesh is 28.8.  Although their MPs have been attending the sessions regularly, their overall score is far below the national average of 46.9.  Probably, these two states have sent large contingents of MPs belonging to the same party (AIADMK / BJP) and most of them are new MPs.  These respective parties should take initiatives to provide adequate training to their new MPs about the functions of the Parliament.

Kerala and Maharashtra have an average attendance of 84% and 81% respectively.  Kerala and Maharashtra top in their overall performance score by securing 106.8 points and 90 points respectively, as against the national average of 46.9.

Sansad Ratna Awardees score again

The top performers of the Parliament for the 16th Lok Sabha session, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Supriya Sule and Shivaji Adhalrao Patil were the ‘Sansad Ratna Awardees’ for the 15th Lok Sabha.  The Award was instituted by Prime Point Foundation and this ezine, PreSense.

Non performing Members

As most of the MPs were new, no analysis was undertaken for this category. The respective political parties should analyse the performance of their own members and mentor them for better performance in future sessions.

PreSense Congratulates the Members and States who have shown good performance.

By K Srinivasan, Editor in Chief

Input courtesy: www.prsindia.org

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Coal Nayak and Sansad Ratna Awardee Hansraj Ahir turns 61 and takes over as a Minister in Modi Government

Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, BJP MP from Chandrapur is popularly known as 'Coal Nayak' for his unearthing coal scam. He is also the recipient of 'Sansad Ratna Award' for the past five years continuously for his consistent outstanding performance in the 15th Lok Sabha.  During May 2014, he was elected as MP for fourth time from Chandrapur (Maharashtra).  

Today (11th Novmber 2014) Shri Hansraj Ahir completes 60.  On this day, he also takes charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.  

Hansraj G Ahir taking charge as MOS on 11th November 2014 - (L to R) Anantha Kumar, Cabinet Minister and Hansraj Ahir

Prime Point Foundation and the editorial team of ezines PreSense and New Gen Thamizhan congratulate him for his achievement.  We pray His Almighty to bless him for his continued dedicated service to the Nation in the new role.

It is worth reading an article in The Hindu (11 Nov 2014).  

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/why-modi-chose-ahir/article6584744.ece

Why Modi chose Ahir

A prominent leader from Vidarbha, Ahir unearthed coal scam

By roping in Chandrapur MP Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, nicknamed ‘coal nayak’ for exposing the coal block allocation scam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved two objectives.

The Prime Minister, by bringing him into the Union Council of Ministers, has sent out a signal that his government means business on the issue of probity in public life.

Mr. Ahir, hailed as a “role model” for MPs by the then Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, had meticulously collected information on irregularities in coal block allocations. After his numerous attempts to get information from the PMO went in vain, he, along with another BJP MP Prakash Javadekar (now a Minister), petitioned the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for an inquiry. Based on the complaint, the CVC ordered a CBI inquiry which proved to be costly for the UPA government. The Supreme Court eventually cancelled the allocations saying they were done in an “illegal manner.”

Secondly, Mr. Modi has sent out a message that the development of the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, which has witnessed sporadic but peaceful agitations for a separate State for a long time, is one of the top items on the agenda of his government. Mr. Ahir is a prominent leader from the region.

The BJP was one of the national parties that at one time had supported the demand for a separate Vidarbha. The first BJP Chief Minister of the State, Devendra Fadnavis, is also from this region.

The State unit of the party in general and Mr. Fadnavis in particular were in a spot when Mr. Modi, in one of his very first Assembly election rallies, had emphatically declared that Maharashtra would not be divided as long as he was in power. Mr. Modi’s stance was seen as a counter to the campaign by the Shiv Sena that the BJP, if elected to power, would carve out a State of Vidarbha.

With Mr. Fadnavis as the Chief Minister, Nitin Gadkari (who is an MP from Nagpur) as Cabinet Minister and now Mr. Ahir as a Minister of State, the Prime Minister has ensured that Vidarbha is at the centre stage of politics.

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