Meeting with Leaders of various political parties/groups in Parliament

13.1 This Ministry makes necessary arrangements/coordinates the meetings of leaders of various political parties/groups in Parliament convened by Prime Minister, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Law, Justice & Company Affairs, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Minister of Urban Affairs etc. During the year under report the following meetings were held: -

1. On 3rd February, 2001, the Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various political parties in Parliament to discuss the situation arising out of devastating earthquake in Gujarat;

2. On 18th February, 2001, the Prime Minister held the first meeting of National Committee on Disaster Management and discussed relief and rehabilitation work made for the earthquake affected people in Gujarat;

3. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs & Information Technology convened an all party meeting with leaders of various political parties in Parliament on 21st February, 2001 to make a presentation on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir after unilateral ceasefire declared by Government of India;

4. The Prime Minister convened an all-party meeting of leaders of various political parties in Parliament on 14th April, 2001 to discuss the normal functioning of Parliament;

5. On 19th May, 2001, the Prime Minister held an all party meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament to discuss the Constitution (87th Amendment) Bill, 1999 regarding Panchayati Raj;

6. An all party leaders meeting was held by the Prime Minister on 9th July, 2001 to discuss the then forthcoming visit of Mr. Parvez Musharraf, President of Pakistan for Agra Summit.

7. The Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament on 19th July, 2001 to apprise the leaders about the outcome of Agra Summit.

8. The Minister of Law, Justice & Company Affairs held a meeting with leaders of various political parties on 13th September, 2001 to discuss Electoral Reforms and other related matter.

9. On 15th September, 2001 the Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament to discuss the situation arising out of terrorist attack in America.

10. The Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament on 30th October, 2001 to discuss the then prevailing situation followed by American action in Afghanistan.

11. On 4th December, 2001, the Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various parties in Parliament to discuss the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, 2001 (POTO).

12. The Prime Minister held a meeting with leaders of various political parties on 30th December, 2001 to discuss the then status of 'Indo-Pak Relations.'

Meeting with Chief Whips/Whips of various political parties/groups in Parliament

13.2 The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs holds meeting with the Chief Whips of various political parties/groups in Parliament during every session to discuss matters of mutual interest. During this year the meeting was held on 23^rd February, 2001.

The institution of Whips and its functions

13.3 The efficient and smooth transaction of Parliamentary Business depends to a very large extent upon the office of the Whips who are responsible for efficiently carrying on the organisation of the parties inside Parliament. The office of whip thus plays a key role in a Parliamentary democracy.

13.4 The duty of maintaining discipline and decorum in the House devolves upon the Speaker, the Leaders of the House and the Leader(s) of the Opposition and Whips of political parties. The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs as Chief Whip of the ruling party in the Indian Parliament is responsible for the smooth conduct of business in the two Houses of Parliament along with other Parliamentary functionaries mentioned above.

Monitoring Group of All India Whips’ Conference

13.5 The 12^th All India Whips’ Conference held at Srinagar on 21^st and 22^nd August, 1997 had inter-alia recommended for setting up of a Monitoring Group under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to watch the progress of implementation of the recommendations of the 12^th All India Whips’ Conference and the views expressed in its plenary Sessions.

13.6 At its first meeting held on 17^th May, 2000 in New Delhi, the Monitoring Group constituted two sub-committees for going to the various States to study and assess the stage of implementation of recommendations of the Whips’ Conference. The Sub-Committee “A” of the Monitoring Group held meetings in Uttar Pradesh on 11.6.2001, in Delhi on 12.6.2001 and in Rajasthan on 13.6.2001.

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