Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
| Photo Credit: PTI
Nearly 75% of the assurances made by Union Ministers in Parliament were not fulfilled, according to information provided by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry in the Rajya Sabha on Monday (March 17, 2025).
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Raising the issue during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Sanjay Singh said that according to government reply, out of 160 assurances made in the House in 2024, only 39 were fulfilled and 119 were pending.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said negligible number of assurances were pending after an Online Assurances Monitoring System (OAMS) was launched in 2018 and 99% requests were resolved.
He said all assurances should ideally be honoured within three months and if not fulfilled, then it would be a blot on parliamentary democracy.
“We understand the importance of parliamentary democracy. If members of Parliament ask questions and the government responds, then it is utmost important that the assurance should be fulfilled. If they (assurances) are not fulfilled, it will be a blot on Parliament democracy. We recently wrote to all Ministers to respond to assurance within three months and respond to letters by members of Parliament within a month. We cannot take them lightly,” Mr. Rijiju said.
Mr. Singh said there was a contradiction in the reply given by the Minister that 99% assurances had been fulfilled as their website showed that 1,324 assurances were pending.
Responding to Mr. Singh, the Minister said, “I do not know what website you are referring to? I will get it checked. If you consolidate the data since 1947, then how does it help?”
The Minister added that 547 assurances were pending in the Rajya Sabha, while 764 assurances were pending in the Lok Sabha.
Digital platform
The OAMS, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs with secretariats of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, was a digital platform aimed at ensuring that assurances made by Ministers in Parliament were systematically tracked, monitored, and fulfilled, he added.
Minister of State L. Murugan said the system enhanced accountability, transparency, and efficiency by integrating key features and mechanisms.
The Minister said the OAMS provided a single digital repository where all assurances were recorded, ensuring transparency and eliminating the risk of losing track of commitments for timely fulfilment of assurances.
The system sends timely alerts to all stakeholders to act on pending assurances, maintaining adherence to the timeline. Ministries and departments could log progress updates directly into the system, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information for stakeholders, Mr. Murugan said.
Published – March 17, 2025 07:59 pm IST