IV. THE LIBRARY, REFERENCE, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION SERVICE
39. RESEARCH AND LIBRARY SECTION
39.1 Research and Library Section has been entrusted with the following items of work:
i) Attending to references made by the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and the Secretary-General on constitutional questions and questions concerning parliamentary procedure.
ii) Collection of information about the procedure followed in the State Legislatures in India and in the Legislatures of other countries.
iii) Maintenance of Rajya Sabha Secretariat Library. iv) Maintenance and circulation of the periodicals.
v) Purchase of books, periodicals, newspapers and maintenance of Accession Register, Ledger of Books, etc.
vi) Preparation of speeches, messages, articles, research notes, etc.
vii) Preparation of answers to Questionnaires received from international bodies like Inter-Parliamentary Union (I.P.U.), Association of Secretaries-General of Parliaments (A.S.G.P.), Society of the Clerks-at-the-Table and Foreign Parliaments.
viii) Furnishing of information sought by various national and international bodies.
ix) Preparing press-clippings from the newspapers received in the Section.
x) Culling out the instances of humour from the Rajya Sabha Debates.
xi) Distribution of the copies of the Constitution of India to Members of Rajya Sabha.
xii) Distribution of the copies of the publications brought out by the Section.
xiii) Compilation, printing and publication of ‘Who’s Who, Rajya Sabha’ after every biennial election.
xiv) Preparation of ‘Sessional Review’ to be published in the Journal of Parliamentary Information (JPI).
xv) Publishing of 'Rajya Sabha and its Secretariat: A performance profile'.
39.2 Research and Reference Work:
a) Research notes/articles: Research notes on various items were prepared for various parliamentary conferences. Notes on (i) Time Management in the House: New Approaches to an old Problem, (ii) The Public Image of Parliamentary Government: Partnerships in Improving the Understanding and Image of Parliaments, (iii) The Role of Parliament in Promoting the Cohension of the Country and (iv) Parliamentary Committees: Making the Committee System more effective were prepared for use of Deputy-Chairman at the Conference of Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers held at Montebello, Quebec (Canada) in January, 2004.
Note on ‘Relations between Parliament and Civil society’, was prepared for the use of Secretary-General at the ASGP meeting held at Mexico City from 19-23 April 2004. Notes on (i) The Role of Scrutiny and Oversight in Parliament of India; (ii) Reform of Parliament– the Place of Clerk; (iii) Pre-legislative Scrutiny and (iv) Consulting Public Opinion in the Legislative Process were also prepared for use of the Secretary-General at the 41st General Meeting of Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments held in Canada from 6-7 September, 2004.
Notes on (i) ‘Financial Control in Parliament – the relationship between Parliament and the highest state financial bodies, expertise in Parliament in relation to financial scrutiny of government expenditure’, and (ii) The tension between the wish to deal as speedily as possible with passing bills and the need to ensure that they are properly scrutinised’ were prepared for the use of Secretary-General at the ASGP meeting held at Geneva from 28-30 September, 2004.
The Conference of Presiding Officers/Secretaries of Legislative Bodies in India was held at Kolkata from 7 - 11 October 2004. Notes on points on (i) Parliamentary Privileges and Freedom of Press and (ii) Symposium point – ‘Relationship between the Legislature and the Judiciary’ were prepared to be discussed in the aforesaid Conference. A speech for the use of Secretary-General was also prepared.
Note on Parliament of Thailand was prepared for the use of Hon’ble Chairman and Secretary-General. A comparative chart of time lost due to interruptions, adjournments, etc. in Lok Sabha (10th to 13th Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, 1991-2004 – 156th to 201st Session) was
prepared and supplied for the use of Hon’ble Chairman, Rajya Sabha. A Paper on ‘Women and Employment’ to be presented at a National Seminar organized by the Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation was prepared for the use of Secretary-General.
Talking Points on (i) Parliamentary Customs and Conventions, (ii) Water Scarcity : The Looming Crisis Ahead and (iii) World Environment Day were prepared for use of Secretary-General. A draft talk on the topic of ‘Role of Rajya Sabha Secretariat’ was also prepared for use of Secretary-General at the Orientation Programme held on 24 - 25 July 2004 for newly elected members of Rajya Sabha.
b) Speeches/Addresses/Messages/Articles: Ten draft speeches/addresses including a draft valedictory address for the use of Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Vote of Thanks for use of Secretary-General and draft inaugural address to be delivered by Shri Suresh Pachouri, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs at the Orientation Programme held for newly elected Members of Rajya Sabha, nine messages and three articles/write-ups were prepared.
39.3 Updating/Editing of Publications/Booklets, etc.
(i) List of Members of Rajya Sabha for inclusion in the ‘India 2005 - A Reference Annual’.
(ii) Updating of booklets received from the Training Unit for the Orientation Programmes for newly elected members of Rajya Sabha.
(iii) Updating of ‘Price List of Publications’ of Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
39.4 Compiled/culled out the following:
i) Humour from the Debates of Rajya Sabha for the 200th to 202nd Sessions of Rajya Sabha.
ii) Rulings given by the Chair from the Debates of Rajya Sabha for 197th to 202nd Sessions of Rajya Sabha. iii) Socio-economic profile of the Members of Rajya
Sabha till 2002 (only statistical data). It is available with the Section.
39.5 Preparation of Sessional Review: Brief reviews of the important discussions held and legislative business transacted in Rajya Sabha during the 200th, 201st and 202nd Sessions were prepared and
sent to the Lok Sabha Secretariat for being published in the Journal of Parliamentary Information (JPI).
Statistical information relating to the 200th, 201st and 202nd Sessions of Rajya Sabha and sittings of the various Committees of Rajya Sabha including latest party positions were also compiled for being published in the JPI.
39.6 Press Clippings: Press Clippings of the newspapers received in this Section were prepared and compiled everyday.
39.7 Who’s Who, Rajya Sabha: The publication of ‘Who’s Who Rajya Sabha’ is brought out after every two years. 'Who's Who Rajya Sabha 2002' was brought out in March 2003. The manuscript of Who’s Who Rajya Sabha, 2004 approved by the Secretary-General and it has been sent for printing. The bio-data of Members elected/nominated during the year 2005 will be compiled and put on the Internet at the Rajya Sabha website.
39.8 Library: This Section also maintains a small Library for use of officers and staff of the Secretariat, who are permitted to borrow books for official use. It contains inter alia books on constitutional law, parliamentary procedure, political science and international relations. Debates of the Constituent Assembly, debates of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and All India Reporters are kept in the Library for reference purpose.
During the year under review, 214 books and journals were added to the Library and approximately 375 books were issued to the officers and staff of the Secretariat.
Research and Library Section functions as a coordinating Section for assessing the requirements of the officers and sections of the Secretariat for books, etc. and procures them. During the period under review, 92 books were purchased and supplied to officers/sections.
39.9.1 Publications: The book titled ‘Rajya Sabha: A multifaceted Upper House’ is proposed to be brought out. The chapters are being updated till December 2004. For this, the information is being collected from different sections. The manuscript will be sent for printing shortly. The book titled ‘Rajya Sabha at Work’ has been updated till
the 200th Session. The manuscript has been sent for printing. The manuscript of the following books have been sent for printing:
1. Role and Relevance of Rajya Sabha in Indian Polity
2. Coffee Table Book titled ‘Celebrating Rajya Sabha: The 200th Session’
3. Rajya Sabha and its Secretariat: A performance profile, 2003
39.10 Budget Allocation: The budget allocated for newspapers/magazines and publications for the financial year 2004-2005 was Rs. 9,75,000/-.
Purpose Total Budget Amount spent
(allocated) till 31.12.2004 Purchase of Rs.9,75,000 Rs. 4,98,441/- Newspapers/ Magazines, books &
other Publications
39.11 Computerization:
I. The Section is provided with seven computers – five ACER (Veriton 7200), one Brio Pentium III (Hewlett Packard) and one computer Pentium II 266(WIPRO)-upgraded to Pentium III, are installed in Room Nos. 534 and 535.
II. (i) Entries made in software developed by the NIC for Who’s Who 2004 for
accessing the biographical sketches of Members of Rajya Sabha on the Internet were updated.
(ii) In the Who’s Who search form, a new entry based on educational qualification with multiple levels was worked out with the NIC staff, the data on educational qualification of members was fed as per the format and made functional.
(iii) Entries in the Who’s Who search form pertaining to profession and educational qualification of members are being routinely updated. (iv) The answers to Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQ), containing a list of questions and answers on various aspects of Rajya Sabha available at the Rajya Sabha web page are updated in the Section. (v) Internet is being increasingly used to
browse information about foreign Parliaments.
(vi) Internet is also used to seek information relating to the availability of foreign books, its price, etc. from the foreign publishers.
(vii) The Bulletin paragraphs, which are sent to Table Office, are now done in the CRC form.
(viii) The compilation of Statistical data for the Sessional Review of Rajya Sabha is now being done in the Windows Operating System.
(ix) The compilation of data on the socio-economic background of the Members of Rajya Sabha.
(x) With LAN connectivity there is easy transfer of information and files within the Section.
(xi) Reference material for speeches, articles, messages and information regarding foreign Parliaments is accessed from the Internet.
(xii) The publications titled (i)Rajya Sabha at
Work, (ii)Rajya Sabha : A multifaceted Upper House,(iii)Practice & Procedure Series,(iv)Role and Relevance of Rajya Sabha in Indian Polity and(v)Coffee Table Book titled ‘Celebrating Rajya Sabha : The 200th Session’ were typed in MS Word.
(xiii) List of additions to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat Library is e-mailed to the Sections and officers of the Secretariat.
(xiv) Reference material and answers to questionnaires, etc. received from the various International Agencies/Organisations are also sent through e-mail.
(xv) All typing work including speeches, messages, articles, addresses, official notes, notes for various conferences, daily index of newspaper clippings, etc. are being done on computers.
(xvi) List of Members of Rajya Sabha for inclusion in ‘INDIA 2005 - A Reference Annual’ was
prepared in Window Operating System and material was supplied on floppy in the MS word format (DOC file) along with its hard copy.
