New Delhi:

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday appointed 8 members of his personal staff to 20 committees under the purview of the Upper House Secretariat.

According to the order issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 8 members of Dhankhar's personal staff have been appointed in 20 committees.

These include 4 employees posted in the Vice President's Secretariat.

The officers of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat usually assist the parliamentary committees and also form part of the committee secretariats.

Sources in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said that there has been no preference for the Speaker to appoint his staff in the committees.

People appointed to the committees include Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Vice President, OSD to the President and Private Secretary to the Vice President.

The opposition has termed it a "strange move".

The opposition said that there is no other precedent for this move.

Opposition leaders said that the Rajya Sabha Chairman is trying to keep a close watch on various committees by appointing these officers from his personal staff.

Congress leaders said this clearly shows no faith in the existing system of officers who keep the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha informed of various developments in the committee's deliberations.

At the same time, the Trinamool Congress raised questions on the functioning of the Rajya Sabha.

TMC said the rate of scrutiny of bills was 67 per cent in 2014.

It has now come down to 14 percent. 

There was also no discussion under Rule 267 in the last five years during the tenure of Dhankhar's predecessor Venkaiah Naidu.

TMC will issue a statement on this matter on Thursday.

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