Press not giving due coverage to Parliament Proceedings: Naidu

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) Cutting across party lines members in the Rajya Sabha today expressed their anguish over ''disappearance'' of the Parliament proceedings in the print media particularly and called for appropritate steps for ensuring due coverage.

Raising the issue just before the initiation of the debate on the General Budget 2007-08 by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in the House, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu got up to say what was the relevance of debating the issues when nothing of it ever appeared in the print media.

He did not subscribe to Deputy Chairman K Rehman Khan's views that the proceedings were duly telecast live by the Rajya Sabha T V channel and questioned the chair's observation that ''How many people watch this channel''.

''If proceedings get into print, anyone could read them any time,'' Mr Naidu said.

The BJP leader pointed out when the General Budget had got wide publicity why the debate should not get the same treatment from the press.

He was joined by several other members from various parties who too expressed concern over the matter.

Later commenting in a lighter vein, Mr Naidu himself suggested that newspaper editors and reporters should be invited over tea or lunch and be asked for giving due coverage to the Parliamentary proceedings.

UNI