APPENDIX-II

(vide para 1.12)

HIGHLIGHTS

(1.4.98 to 31.12.1998)

Legislative:

During the period from 1.4.1998 to 31.12.1998,the Lok Sabha held 56 sitting and the Rajya Sabha 53 sittings spread over two Sessions each (page 4)
Shri P.M.Sayeed, a Member of Lok Sabha was chosen as the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha on 17 December, 1998.(page 54)
The General Budget for 1998-99 was presented on 1 June, 1998 and Railway Budget for 1998-99 on 29 May, 1998 (page 67)
Sixteen Ordinances were promulgated (pages 8,9&10)
Thirty-three Bills were passed by both Houses of Parliament. (pages 59-64)

Consultative Committee:

After General Election to the Twelfth Lok Sabha, Twenty-nine Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament attached to various Ministries/Departments were constituted in June/August, 1998. These committees held 71 meetings.(page 29)

The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs nominated 257 Members of Lok Sabha and 173 Members of Rajya Sabha on one hundred and Seventy-six Government Bodies, Countries, Boards etc. including 36 Hindi Salahkar Samitis. (page 30)

Pursuant to a recommendation made to that effect by the Twelfth All India Whips' Conference held at Srinagar in August, 1997, a Monitoring Group under the Chairman-ship of the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism was constituted on 17^th July, 1998 to watch the progress of implementation of the recommendations of the Twelfth All India Whips' Conference. The Monitoring Group has divided itself into two Sub-Committees to visit the various States to assess the stage of implementation of the recommendations (Pages 49 & 50)

The Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Bill, 1998 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18.12.1998 and by the Rajya Sabha on 21.12.1998. The Bill received assent of the President of India on 7.1.1999. The Bill seeks to provide certain Secretarial and telephone facilities to the leaders and Chief Whips of recognised parties and groups in both Houses of Parliament. The Bill was brought forward pursuant to the recommendations made by the All India Whips, Conferences for extending certain facilities. (page 47)

The Ministry conducts Youth Parliament Competitions for the benefit of the student community. The 33^rd Youth Parliament Competition for Sr. Secondary Schools under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi and N.D.M.C., and the 11^th National Youth Parliament Competition for Kendriya Vidyalayas was held during the year. 53 Schools of Delhi and 172 Kendriya Vidyalayas respectively participated in these competitions.(pages 37 & 38)

The Second National Youth Parliament Competition for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and the Second National Youth Parliament Competition for Universities/Colleges is in progress and is likely to be completed this year. (page 40)

Orientation Courses for these competitions were held at Delhi for Delhi & N.D.M.C. Schools, at Duliajan(Assam), Palampur (Himachal Pradesh), Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu) and Pune (Maharashtra) for Kendriya Vidyalayas, at New Delhi and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and at New Delhi for Universities/Colleges. (Pages 39 & 40)

During the period from 1.4.1998 to 31.12.1998, this Ministry sent one Government Delegation of Members of Parliament to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.(Page 32)

Three meetings with leaders of various political parties in Parliament on Electoral Reforms and Women's Reservation Bill were convened. (page 49)

During the period from 1.4.98 to 31.12.1998, 557 matters under Rule 377 were raised in the Lok Sabha and 191 matters by way of Special Mentions were raised in the Rajya Sabha. Out of these 351 matters in the Lok Sabha and 112 Special Mentions in the Rajya Sabha have already been replied to by the Ministries/Departments concerned.(Page 27)

The Ministry conducted one Orientation Course in Parliamentary Procedure and Practices each for (i) the Officers of the Central Government and (ii) the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, in the Parliament House, New Delhi which were attended by 28 and 2 Officers respectively. (Page 51)

During the period from 1985 to 1998, 24442 assurances were given by the Minister in Lok Sabha and 19122 assurances in the Rajya Sabha. This includes 1175 assurances given in the Lok Sabha and 753 assurances given in the Rajya Sabha during the year 1998. Out of these, 22399 assurances (91.64%) pertaining to the Lok Sabha and 17815 assurances (93.16%) pertaining to the Rajya Sabha have already been fulfilled by the Government. (Pages 23&24)

In addition to the above, part implementation Reports relating to 47 assurances in the Lok Sabha and 17 assurances in the Rajya Sabha were also laid, during the period under report. (Page 24)