india

Updated: Jul 16, 2019 23:16 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “upset” with ministers skipping their roster duty in Parliament and has asked for a list of those who absented themselves from parliamentary sittings despite being asked to attend, two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders aware of developments said on condition of anonymity.

The government’s floor managers prepare a roster duty for each minister, assigning them a day on which they are supposed to be present in the House.

At the weekly meeting of the BJP parliamentary party on Tuesday, Modi expressed his displeasure about ministers skipping roster duty and asked for a list of defaulters by evening, the first leader said. He quoted Modi as saying that ministers are expected to discharge the duties assigned to them.

The PM has repeatedly stressed that ministers and MPs must attend Parliament sittings, but there have been instances of ministers being missing or a lack of quorum (number of MPs required to be present in the House), causing embarrassment to the treasury benches.

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The current session will see the introduction of important bills and debates on them, and the prime minister wants proper attendance in the House, the second leader mentioned above said.

Modi is also believed to have told MPs that the duration of the session, scheduled to end on July 26, could be extended to complete the government’s unfinished legislative agenda. But this does not mean the government has decided to extend the session, the second leader said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters that Modi had asked BJP MPs to actively develop their constituencies and take up issues such as eradication of leprosy or tuberculosis and water conservation.

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The first impression is often the last impression, Modi is learnt to have told the MPs, many of them first-timers, as he urged them to work passionately for development of their constituencies. He told them to also take up a social cause as a “mission”, apart from their duties as MPs, so they are remembered for their work.

According to Joshi, Modi noted that India had fixed 2025 as the deadline for eradicating tuberculosis against the global deadline of 2030. He asked MPs to work with local authorities for development of their constituencies.

At the meeting, BJP working president JP Nadda spoke about the party’s ongoing membership drive. Modi asked MPs to join the campaign which, he added, had got a good response from the people.