CHAPTER XIV

RESEARCH, PUBLICATION AND ARCHIVES

Part A: - Research & Library

14.1 Main work of the Section-The Research and Library Section attends to various types of research and reference work, a synoptic account of which is given below:

(i) References made by the Hon’ble Chairman, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, the Secretary-General and other officers of the Secretariat on constitutional and parliamentary matters.

(ii) Preparation of draft speeches, messages, etc. for use of Chairman and, Rajya Sabha.

(iii) Compilation of expressions held to be `unparliamentary’ by the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha, the State Legislatures and Legislatures of other countries.

(iv) Compilation of the rulings/observations from the Chair.

(v) Culling out of the instances of wit and humour from the Rajya Sabha Debates.

(vi) Preparation of Socio-economic profile of Members after every biennial election.

(vii) Preparation of sessional review regarding work transacted by the Rajya Sabha during a session for publication in the Journal of Parliamentary Information (JPI) brought out by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

(viii) Furnishing answers to Questionnaires received from international parliamentary bodies like Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), and Association of Secretaries-General of Parliaments (ASGP), Society of Clerks-at-the Table as also from the individual Parliaments of various countries.

(ix) Preparation of background/research notes on topics included in the Agenda of the Conferences held at the national and international level such as the Conference of Presiding Officers/Secretaries of the Legislative Bodies in India, ASGP and Society of Clerks at the Table.

(x) Dealing with references received from the Legislatures of States in India and other countries.

(xi) Publication of a comprehensive Practice & Procedures series of booklets biennially covering all aspects of Rajya Sabha.

(xii) Maintenance of CDs library of proceedings.

(xiii) Annual publication of `Rajya Sabha and its Secretariat: A performance profile’.

(xiv) Compilation & publication of `Rajya Sabha Who’s Who’.

14.2 Procedure for disposing of Reference Work- The references received from the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Secretary-General etc., are attended to immediately. These references are generally received either in writing or on phone. The work is disposed of at senior level. Draft messages, draft speeches and research notes, etc. prepared by this Section and reference material on different subjects required by the Chairman are sent directly with a copy to the Secretary-General for information.

Other items of research work such as preparing notes and articles on the items in the Agenda of various Conferences namely Conference of Secretaries and Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India, A.S.G.P., Society of Clerks-at-the-Table, and preparing manuscripts of the publications brought out by this Section from time to time, etc. are initiated mostly at the level of Assistant Directors and put up through proper channel. Such items are finally approved by the Secretary-General.

14.3 Publications and Distribution- Publications are also brought out by this Section from time to time. While some of these publications are one-time, others are regularly updated. The main regular publications brought out by different services of the Secretariat are given in Annexure 14.1.

14.4 Library-

14.4.1 Introduction: This Section manages the Rajya Sabha Secretariat Library to meet the day-to-day reference requirements of the Secretariat. The Research and Library Section functions as a co-ordinating Section for assessing the requirements of the Officers and Sections of the Secretariat for books/publications and procures them.

The desired publications are generally acquired from suppliers on approval basis. The books so received are seen by the Junior Library Assistant under the guidance of an Assistant Director. Books are also scrutinized by other Senior Officers before recommending to the competent authority for being added to the Library. Publications are also purchased on the recommendation or requirement of the offices of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary-General, Senior Officers and Sections of the Secretariat after obtaining financial sanction from the competent authority.

Pre-receipted bills for the approved books are received from the suppliers. The bills are processed and sent to the concerned section for payment.

14.4.2 New Additions: Books to be added to the Library are given accession numbers according to the sequence in which they have been received. The title of the book, editor, edition no., place and name of publisher, year of publication, volume, if any, number of pages, source from which it has been procured, price, bill number, date and for whom purchased are entered in the Accession Register. The books are subsequently classified according to the Dewey Decimal classification system and are catalogued according to the Anglo-American cataloguing rules (AACR II). The Accession Register is maintained in the following format:

ACCESSION REGISTER

Date	Accession No.	Author	Title	Edition	Place & Publisher	Year	Pages	Volume	Source
01.	02.	03.	04.	05.	06.	07.	08.	09.	10.

Cost	Class No.	Book No.	Bill No. & Date	Remarks
11.	12.	13.	14.	15.

Every six months, the Research and Library Section brings out a list of publications added to the Library. This circular is issued/e-mailed to all sections so that the employees of the Secretariat are aware of new additions.

14.4.3 Procedure for issuing Books: Books are issued to officers and staff on returnable basis for duration of not more than 15 days on Requisition Slips. Books which are issued on Requisition Slip are entered into the Issue/Return register the format of which is as follows:

ISSUE/RETURN REGISTER

Date of Issue	Acc. No.	Date of Return	For whom Issued	Title of the Books

Some of the books are for reference only which are generally not issued. Some books are issued to the officers of the rank of the Under Secretary and above on long-term basis, which are to be returned when the officer retires or leaves the Secretariat. A record of such books is maintained on the following format in the Distribution Register, with a separate page opened for each Officer/Section.

LOAN REGISTER FOR BOOKS ISSUED ON LONG TERM BASIS

Name of the Borrower______Card No.______Designation______Department/Section____________

Sl. No.

Accession

Number

Author

Title

Date of Issue

Borrower’s Signature

Date of

Return

Receiver’s Signature

Reminded

Remarks

01.

02.

03.

04.

05.

06.

07.

08.

09.

10.

14.4.4 Annual physical verification: Special procedures have been prescribed under Rule 116 in Chapter 8 of the General Financial Rules, with regard to physical verification of Library Books. Annual physical verification must be done accordingly and certificate of verification recorded. In respect of books issued on long-term basis, the verification shall include reconciliation of the List of books issued to each card holder, with the card holder or his personal staff, and in case no response is received the presumption shall be that the list of book shown issued is correct.

14.4.5 Procedure for cost recovery in case of loss/misplacement of books: Reminders are issued in case of a overdue book/publication on weekly/monthly basis depending on the demand for the book. If a book/publication is not returned to the Library after issuing reminders, it is presumed lost and steps are taken to recover the replacement cost thereof from the borrower. Cost of all books outstanding while the card holder leaves his post on retirement/deputation shall also be recovered similarly. In all cases of outstanding books, P & AO shall be informed that dues may be withheld till books are returned or recovery effected. Cost to be recovered is decided as per the formula contained in Rule 6 of the Library Rules indicated below:-

________________________________________________________________________________

Sl. No. Publication Cost to be recovered

________________________________________________________________________________

1. Indian book/publication printed 1 ½ times the original price.

during the last 5 years.

2. Indian book/publication printed Double the original price.

more than 5 years back.

3. Indian book/publication which Five times the original price.

is out of print.

4. Foreign publication printed Double the original price.

during the last 5 years.

5. Foreign publication printed 3 times the original price.

more than five years back

6. Foreign publication which is out 5 times the original price.

of print

7. Indian foreign publication for 0.50 paise per page.

which price is not available.

14.4.6 Procedure for writing off of books: Writing off is resorted to in the cases of irrecoverable losses keeping in view the provisions of Chapter 8 of the General Financial Rules. The file is put up to the Secretary-General for obtaining his/her approval for writing off of books/publications in cases where it is justified.

14.5 Subscription of Newspapers/Magazines-

14.5.1 Purchase and Reimbursement: In the beginning of every financial year, the Section obtains a consolidated sanction for the supply of newspapers/periodicals keeping in view the demands from the Officers of Rajya Sabha and Rajya Sabha Secretariat.

The Section also subscribes newspapers/periodicals for the use of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha and Chairmen of various Committees of Rajya Sabha Secretary-General, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary. In all cases financial sanction is obtained from the competent authority.

This Section processes bills for payment/reimbursement in respect of newspapers/periodicals subscribed for all the gazetted officers of the Secretariat. As per the circular no. RS.14/6/94-95/R&L, dated 16 September 1994, (Annexure 14.2) officers of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat are provided newspapers/magazines, w.e.f. 17 September 1994 under a fixed monetary ceiling.

Officers upto the rank of the Director send their claims for reimbursement in a prescribed claim form on quarterly basis. The files relating to the newspaper bills are scrutinized and submitted to the concerned Assistant Director by the Senior Clerks/Junior Library Assistants. After deducting 10% of the bill amount which is the residual cost of the old newspapers/magazines, the bill if found in order are sent to the Drawing and Disbursement Officer for counter signature in the pay order. Thereafter the bills are sent to Establishment (A/Cs) Section for payment.

14.5.2 Press Clippings: Clippings from the newspapers received in this Section are prepared and sent everyday for the perusal of the Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha and Secretary-General.

14.6 Research staffing to Committees-

14.6.1 The Department related Committee: Four Research Officers are working in the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees. These Research Officers are assisting in drafting reports, examining bills referred to the Committees, preparing briefs, memoranda, Questionnaires, recording minutes and attending to the correspondence work.

14.6.2 Ethics Committee: This Section also looks after the work relating to the Ethics Committee. The procedure in this connection is described in Chapter XII.

14.7 Rajya Sabha Who’s Who- This Section also attends to the work relating to compilation, printing and publication of the 'Rajya Sabha Who’s Who’.

Rajya Sabha Who’s Who is brought out every two year after new members are elected at biennial elections. Standard Biographical Sketch Forms are sent to the newly elected Members for collecting their biographical details, along with their photographs, for inclusion in Rajya Sabha Who’s Who. Similarly, tear-off sheets of the biographical sketches published in the previous edition of Who’s Who are sent to continuing Members and to those who retire but are re-elected, for updating.

The Biographical Sketch Forms duly completed by the Members are received and compiled in the Computer in the Section as per the approved format. In case of a query/clarification, a Member is contacted either in Lobby (during session) or by writing (during inter-session).

The biographical sketches as prepared on the computer are sent to the Members for vetting and return by a specified date, after which the printout of the Who’s Who is sent to the Printing Section for printing alongwith floppies containing biographical sketches. This Section also puts biographical data of Members of Rajya Sabha into specially designed software developed by NIC for putting the biographical sketches of Members of Rajya Sabha on the Internet. Photographs of the newly elected Members are sent to NIC for putting them alongwith their biographical sketches on the Internet.

In addition to the biennial Who’s Who, a consolidated Who’s Who giving brief biodata of all Members of the Rajya Sabha since inception is published from time to time, by the Table Office in a similar manner.

14.8 Miscellaneous Publications-

(i) Sessional Review for publication in the Journal of Parliamentary Information (JPI) - After a session is over, a review of the business transacted by Rajya Sabha during that period is prepared. For preparing a resume of the important discussions held and other business transacted, the Debates, Synopsis of Debates and Bulletin Part-I are consulted. Information relating to the latest party position, list of Bills passed in Rajya Sabha during the session, reports and meetings of the Committees, etc. is obtained from concerned sections in a printed proforma. This statistical information also forms part of the sessional review. English and Hindi version are then forwarded to Lok Sabha Secretariat for publication in the Journal of Parliamentary Information (JPI) and Sansadiya Patrika respectively.

(ii) Compilation of Rulings and Culling out of instances of wit and humour in Rajya Sabha- Rulings/Directions from the Chair are compiled session-wise by the Interpreters’ Section and sent to the Section.

Instances of wit and humour in the House are culled out from the Rajya Sabha Debates. Thereafter, they are properly edited and suitable headings are provided to them.

(iii) Compilation of Unparliamentary Expressions- Words/Expressions which have been disallowed in Rajya Sabha are received from the Reporters’ Section for being sent to the Table, a Journal brought out by the Society of clerks-at-the-Table.

(iv) Furnishing answers to questionnaires received from Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Association of Secretaries-General of Parliaments (ASGP) and Society of Clerks-at-the-Table – Replies to the questionnaires received from IPU, CPA, ASGP and Society of Clerks-at-the-Table pertaining to various activities of the House and the Secretariat are prepared in consultation with other sections concerned. The replies are finally approved by the Secretary-General.

14.9 Library of Video CDs of proceedings of Rajya Sabha- Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha are produced as Video CDs by the Lobby Office for permanent historical record. A copy is made available to R & L Section which catalogues and keeps the CDs in safe custody for reference purposes.