New Delhi [India], July 15 (ANI): Calling the new attendance system in Parliament 'flawed,' Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Tuesday called for the need for 'systematic reforms' in the Parliament.

In a post on X, the Congress Lok Sabha MP from Virudhunagar claimed that the new multimedia device for marking attendance, which is set to be introduced in the upcoming Monsoon session, failed during the voting of the Waqf amendment Bill.

'The new multimedia device for marking attendance from Lok Sabha seats will be rolled out this Monsoon Session. But we already saw it fail during the Waqf vote, where the system didn't function reliably. Why repeat a flawed system?' the Congress MP said.

'If attendance marking is about transparency and accountability, why are the Prime Minister and ministers exempted? Shouldn't the PM lead by example instead of being above the process?' he said, emphasising the need for mandatory attendance and transparent participation metrics in the parliament.

'It would reveal how many days the PM is actually present in the Lok Sabha--typically just 3 to 4 days out of 18 to 28 in a session,' he added.

'Instead of merely digitizing attendance, we need systemic reforms: Mandatory attendance for all, Transparent participation metrics, Auto-publication of speaking records & voting behaviour. Digital tools are only as good as the intent behind them. If accountability is selective, the system defeats its purpose,' Tagore further said.

https://x.com/manickamtagore/status/1944952136972034063

This came as the backdrop of the Lok Sabha deciding to introduce a Multi-Media Device (MMD) system to register the attendance of their MPs for this Monsoon Session of Parliament starting July 21.

The move came as part of its ongoing efforts to modernise and digitise Parliamentary functioning. the Lok Sabha Secretariat has undertaken a number of initiatives under the guidance and leadership of the Lok Sabha Speaker to enhance transparency, inclusivity, and accessibility of Parliamentary processes for Members and the public alike.

To promote a digitally empowered working environment for Members of Parliament, the Lok Sabha Chamber has been equipped with dedicated multimedia conferencing devices at every seat. In order to save time and resources, a new feature has been added and now all members will be able to mark attendance through MMD (Multi Media Device) installed at their respective seats. This will reduce one stage and save time for members on a daily basis.

In a significant step towards linguistic inclusivity and citizen engagement, the Lok Sabha Secretariat is now publishing daily Parliamentary business and agenda papers in 12 languages using AI based tools--Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. (ANI)