‘Knowledgeable people…’: V-P Dhankhar defends attaching staff to committees | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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‘Knowledgeable people…’: V-P Dhankhar defends attaching staff to committees

Mar 10, 2023 02:50 AM IST

The Vice President said he had got inputs ahead of the March 7 decision from a number of members and chairpersons for parliamentary panels.

New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday justified attaching officers from his personal staff to 20 parliamentary panels and said “knowledgeable people, IAS and IFS officers” were attached after many panel members or chairpersons requested him to improve the functioning and performance of the panels.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with former Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh at the release of the book ‘Mundaka Upanishad: The Bridge to Immortality’ authored by the latter, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI)
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with former Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh at the release of the book ‘Mundaka Upanishad: The Bridge to Immortality’ authored by the latter, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI)

The Vice President said he had got inputs ahead of the March 7 decision from a number of members and chairpersons for parliamentary panels.

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“You know importance of committees. Every committee is serviced by staff. I got input from number of members and chairmen. They told me to do something to improve the panel’s productivity. I put knowledgeable people to help MPs. Some of them are IAS, IFS and experts,” the Rajya Sabha chairperson added, explaining that he was merely trying to help the panels after MPs appealed to him. Dhankhar was speaking at the launch of a book on Mundaka Upanishad by former parliamentarian Karan Singh.

The move, which is unprecedented and has come in for criticism from the Opposition, was again mired in controversy. Hours after Dhankhar’s comments, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said despite being the chairperson of a standing committee, he was not consulted.

Ramesh, who is the chairman of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, tweeted: “The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has said that his controversial move to have his staff attached to various Committees was after consultations with the respective Chairpersons. I chair a Standing Committee and I can categorically say I wasn’t consulted at all.”

Also read | V-P Dhankhar: Don’t let anyone tarnish feats of those who toil for country

During his speech at the book launch, Dhankhar targeted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of Parliament and Indian democracy on foreign soil and remarked, “If anyone says that mikes are put off in Indian Parliament, it is an affront to the nation.” He did not name Gandhi, though.

“How do we justify this wanton orchestration of factually untenable narrative? And mark the timing of this misadventure. India is seeing a moment of glory and there are people outside, from the country, working overtime to denigrate us. Attempts to tarnish our constitution and parliament is too serious and not acceptable.”

The comment came two days after Rahul Gandhi told British parliamentarians that “a number of times” in the Lok Sabha, when he wanted to speak, he couldn’t switch his microphone on, hinting at an organised stifling of opposition voices.

“How can I simplify a statement that mikes in Indian parliament are put off? How dare anyone say so?” Dhankhar asked. “Has there ever been an illustration? Yes, we did have a dark chapter of political history — proclamation of Emergency.”

Hitting back, Ramesh said: “...Unlike certain individuals his (Gandhi’s) stand does not vary depending on where he sits.”

Since taking over as the country’s vice president on August 11 last year, Dhankhar, the former governor of West Bengal, has courted controversy by taking on the judiciary, criticising a BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots, and referring to “doctored” narratives that seek to “run India down”.

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