Speaker chairs all party meet before Monsoon Session, special discussion in house over drought

Ranchi: Before the start of the Monsoon Session of Assembly Speaker Rabindranath Mahto chaired an all-party meeting which was also attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. In the meeting, it was decided that since average annual rainfall had been a deficit in the state therefore all the MLAs who were present in the meeting called for having a special discussion on the drought over which the Speaker gave his consent. He said that the matter will be taken up in the meeting of the work advisory committee after which time will be allotted.

Earlier the all-party meeting which was scheduled to commence at 2 PM actually started at 5 PM due to a delay by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Aalamgir Aalam and even the Chief Minister got delayed in some functions. Those who attended the meeting included AJSU MLA Lambodar Mahto, CPI MLA Binod Singh, and Independents Saryu Rai and Amit Yadav among others. BJP gave the meeting a miss. Prior to that the Speaker held a meeting with the senior officials of the state government and gave necessary instructions.

He said that answers to the questions should be provided on time to the Assembly Secretariat. The copy of the bill should be also sent a week earlier to the Vidhansabha Secretariat he said. The Speaker also directed to make proper arrangements of water power and security in the house during the session and categorically asked to make sure that officials of the concerned department should be present in the house when issues related to them are taken up in the house.

The view of how sensitive we are towards the legislature was seen in the meeting of the leaders of the legislature party convened by the Speaker of the Assembly on Wednesday regarding the monsoon session. The letter was issued from the assembly office at two o’clock in the afternoon regarding the meeting of the leaders of the legislature party. Due to the Chief Minister and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, the timing of this meeting was extended twice.

Earlier there was a meeting from 2 o’clock which was done at 4 o’clock. After 4 o’clock, the meeting time was again changed to 5 o’clock. It is noteworthy that this meeting is called by the Speaker for the smooth functioning of the House. Independent MLAs were also called in this meeting along with the legislature party leader of all the parties. The meeting started three hours after the scheduled time. It was decided in the meeting that the average rainfall in the state has decreased this year.

Almost all the party leaders demanded the speaker to hold a special discussion on drought in the monsoon session. The speaker has agreed to this. Now it will be discussed in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House and the time for discussion will be fixed. No BJP representative attended the meeting. Earlier, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato held a meeting with the state government officials regarding the session. He gave many instructions to the officers.

Said that the answers to the questions should be given to the Assembly Secretariat on time. A copy of the Bill should also be sent to the Assembly Secretariat seven days in advance. Along with this, he also directed to strengthen the electricity, water and security system. Said that during the session, the senior officers of the department should be present in the house at any cost on the day the question is raised.