Naidu briefs leaders on proposed changes in Rajya Sabha rules, procedures
New Delhi: Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the general purposes committee and briefed political leaders on proposed changes in rules and procedures and conduct of business in the upper house.
Rajya Sabha Secretary General Desh Deepak Verma briefed the panel on the Report of Rules Review Committee which contained 77 amendments to the existing rules, besides 124 new rules for consideration.
The review of rules seeks to impart clarity to several ambiguous provisions of the present Rules, besides incorporating certain directions given by the chairman and addressing certain eventualities not envisaged earlier like voting/division when the House is not in order.
Leaders of 23 political parties in the Upper House attended the meeting here.
It may be recalled that Naidu has earlier desired a comprehensive review of the existing rules, particularly which seem to be inadequate with the passage of time and are not very specific and require suitable amendments to facilitate smooth functioning of the House and increased opportunities for participation for members in the proceedings.
After coming into being in 1952, the Council of States had adopted the Rules of the Legislative Council that in existence earlier till regular Rules came into force effective July, 1964.
The general purposes committee has so far submitted 13 reports based on which the present rules were amended from time to time and the present review undertaken is the most comprehensive since 1964.
Naidu constituted a two-member Rules Review Committee in May, 2018 for recommending changes to the current rules.
The Rules Review Committee comprising former Secretary General of Rajya Sabha V K Agnihotri and former Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Law and Justice Dinesh Bhardwaj has held 51 meetings with various stakeholders, including with officials of Rajya Sabha Secretariat before submitting its report.
The existing Rules of Rajya Sabha contain 303 Rules regarding various aspects of functioning of the House. The amendments to the existing Rules and new Rules on being approved by the Rules Review Committee will be incorporated without disturbing the present numbering, an official statement said.
The next meeting of the general purposes committee will be held after the second part of the Budget Session of Parliament for a detailed consideration of the proposed changes.
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, Leader of the House Thawar Chand Gehlot, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, P C Thakur (BJP), A Navneeth Krishnan (AIADMK), Tiruchy Siva (DMK), Derek O'Brien (TMC), Ramgopal Yadav (SP) and Prasanna Acharya (BJD) were among the leaders who attended the meeting.
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BJP tops list of national parties with over Rs 2,243 crore in donations in FY 2023-24: ADR
New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI): The BJP received the highest amount in large donations among national parties in the financial year 2023-24, with over Rs 2,243 crore declared from 8,358 donations, according to a report by poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The report, based on data submitted to the Election Commission, highlighted trends in political donations above Rs 20,000.
The total declared donations to national parties stood at Rs 2,544.28 crore from 12,547 contributions — a sharp 199 per cent increase compared to the previous year.
BJP's declared donations alone accounted for 88 per cent of the total. The Congress was a very distant second with Rs 281.48 crore from 1,994 donations.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), and National People's Party (NPEP) reported smaller amounts, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) once again declared zero donations above the Rs 20,000 threshold, consistent with its filings for the past 18 years.
Donations to the BJP increased from Rs 719.858 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs 2,243.94 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 211.72 per cent increase. Similarly, donations to the Congress rose from Rs 79.924 crore in FY 2022-23 to Rs 281.48 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a 252.18 per cent increase, the report said.
Over the same period, donations declared by the AAP decreased by 70.18 per cent or Rs 26.038 crore, while donations declared by NPEP decreased by 98.02 per cent or Rs 7.331 crore, it said
Despite the ECI's deadline of September 30, 2024, only BSP and AAP submitted their contribution reports on time. BJP submitted its report with a 42-day delay, followed by CPI(M), INC, and NPEP, which submitted it 43, 27, and 23 days late.
The report said 3,755 donations to the national parties were made by corporate/business sectors amounting to Rs 2,262.55 crore (88.92 per cent of total donations), while 8,493 individual donors donated Rs 270.872 crore (10.64 per cent of total donations) in FY 2023-24.
The report said that 3,478 of these donations were made to BJP (Rs 2,064.58 crore). The party received Rs 169.126 crore through 4,628 individual donors in FY 2023-24.
"The Congress received a total of Rs 190.3263 cr via 102 donations from corporate/business sectors and Rs 90.899 cr via 1,882 individual donors during FY 2023-24," it said.
The ADR said BJP at Rs 2064.58 crore received more than nine times the total amount (Rs 197.97 crore) of all corporate donations declared by all other national parties for FY 2023-24.
Prudent Electoral Trust donated a total of Rs 880 crore to BJP and INC together and is the top donor to parties that received the maximum donations.
The Trust donated Rs 723.675 crore to the BJP (32.25 per cent of total funds received by the party) and Rs 156.4025 crore to the INC (55.56 per cent of total funds received by the party).
Triumph Electoral Trust donated Rs 127.50 crore in four donations to the BJP, and Derive Investments donated Rs 50 crore to it and Rs 3.20 crore to the Congress.
Acme Solar Energy Pvt Ltd donated Rs 51 crore through five donations, Bharat Biotech International Limited donated Rs 50 crore in a single donation, Rungta Sons Private Limited donated Rs 50 crore through a single donation, and Dinesh Chandra R Agarwal Infracon Pvt Ltd donated Rs 30 crore through a single donation to BJP in FY 2023-24, the report said.
ADR observed that Prudent Electoral Trust's report declared contributing 31 donations worth Rs 723.78 crore to BJP, however, the party in its report declared receiving 30 donations worth Rs 723.675 crore.
According to the Jaybharath Electoral Trust report for FY 2023-24, it donated Rs 5 crore to the BJP. However, the contribution report of BJP for the same financial year does not mention this contribution, ADR said.
ADR recommended stringent enforcement of disclosure norms, including the rejection of incomplete reports and mandatory PAN details for all donations above Rs 20,000.
It also called for annual scrutiny of party donation reports by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and advocated for making donor details publicly accessible under the Right to Information Act.
It urged the Election Commission to publish information on action taken against parties failing to meet disclosure standards and pushed for the creation of an online platform to track report submissions and transparency.
