Holding Parliament panel meetings via video conference ill-conceived idea: BJP MP

Strongly opposing a demand to hold parliamentary standing committee meetings through video-conference, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday said the idea is ill-conceived and as per rules, such meetings must be held in private to ensure confidentiality.

In a series of tweets, the three-time member of Parliament (MP) said the rules mandate that all "government and committee meetings are to be held in private to protect the confidentiality of the information shared and to protect the interest of the country".

Many prominent leaders from various parties, including Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, his party colleague and leader of the standing committee on information technology, Shashi Tharoor, and BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suggesting that committee meetings be held through video conference in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chowdhury is also chairman of the public accounts committee.

Without naming anyone, Dubey, who is a member of the Parliament's standing committee on information technology, said, "The idea that committee sittings be held over video is ill-conceived".

He said as over 50 people will attend each meeting, from supporting staff to MPs, who will be responsible if information from meetings is recorded and then shared.

Dubey said if Parliament can be closed for such a crisis, what is the urgency to do such meetings.

Underlining that government officials while appearing before standing committees share information which is secretive, he said therefore it does not make sense to hold meetings through video-conference.

In the last Lok Sabha, Dubey was a member of the parliamentary standing committee on finance and the public accounts committee, and he was instrumental in taking up crucial issues related to taxations by these panels.