IT panel meet: Om Birla to hear out Sashi Tharoor

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is learnt to have assured IT panel chairman Shashi Tharoor that he will grant him an audience to voice his concerns over what transpired at the panel meeting earlier this week and will also look into the complaints himself.

Separately, Birla is also learnt to have said he will meet all members of the House panel to attempt to resolve concerns raised by the chairman.

Earlier this week, a discussion on citizens’ data privacy and security was derailed when 10 BJP MPs showed up but refused to mark their presence in the attendance register, resulting in lack of quorum. Additionally, three Union secretaries excused themselves from appearing before the panel an hour before the meeting and without, as per procedure, seeking Tharoor’s consent first.