In 2018, Parliament’s Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) summoned 18 institutions and conducted 20 investigations and four special investigations, according to its Annual Performance Report for 2018, tabled in Parliament on April 5.
The Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) had examined 32 public enterprises last year.
Parliament received 152 requests for information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2018, of which information was fully provided for 70 RTI applications, while information was partly provided for 26 RTI applications, the report said.
Parliament denied providing information for 51 applications filed under the RTI. On two occasions, Parliament provided requested information based on appeals submitted to the RTI Commission. The average time taken for providing information was 10 days.
The report reveals that Parliament received 621 petitions last year and the Petitions Committee considered 231 petitions.
According to the 2018 Annual Report, the total expenditure of Parliament last year stood at Rs. 2,588 million, of which Rs. 444.8 million was spent on salaries and wages of MPs and Parliament staff. A total of Rs. 588.4 million was spent on allowances of both MPs and Parliament staff. A total of Rs. 95.2 million was spent for electricity and water tariffs.
Parliament conducted 77 sittings last year and passed 35 Bills. Parliament received six Private Member’s Bills and 55 Private Members’ Motions last year.
The 2018 Annual Report said 427 Performance and Annual Reports of the Ministries, Departments, Corporations and Statutory Boards were tabled in Parliament last year.
The Parliament Library commenced a new programme for the preservation of historic documents and publications under the patronage of USAID last year. Under the programme, historic documents in the Library are being digitised. “This process will ensure that historic documents and publications are preserved and that the users can access them conveniently,” the report said.
Parliament has earned an income of Rs. 1.5 million from the sales of the new souvenir shop last year. A number of new items were introduced for sale at the souvenir shop last year, the annual report said.
A total of 124,260 school students and other persons visited Parliament last year, the report revealed.
Parliament also introduced a new insurance scheme for Parliamentary staff from January this year to reimburse medical bills and award compensation in the event of death, the report said.
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