Rs 130 crore loss from Parliament logjam

July 31, 2021 19:24

More than Rs 133 crore in taxpayer money has been lost because of parliament disruptions in the monsoon session, government sources said on Saturday, as the deadlock between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and the Opposition over the Pegasus snooping scandal showed no signs of a thaw.

Since Parliament convened on July 19, the Opposition has been demanding a discussion and an independent inquiry led by a Supreme Court judge -- serving or retired -- into reports that an Israeli spyware sold only to governments was used to hack phones of opposition leaders, judges, activists and even ministers.

The government has dismissed these demands, saying a statement read out in Parliament by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav -- one of the potential targets of the hacking -- was sufficient. For days, the BJP has laboured to label the snooping of the phones a "non-issue".

A statement given out to the media via unnamed "government sources" on Saturday said the deadlock meant that the Lok Sabha only functioned for about 7 hours out of a possible 54, and the Rajya Sabha worked for 11 hours out of a possible 53.

"So far Parliament has functioned only 18 hours out of possible 107 hours. Thus around 89 hours of working time have been wasted. This means that the total loss to the taxpayers is More than Rs 133 crore," the statement said.

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