Even as the State Assembly witnessed an hour-long adjournment till 3 pm, it passed four Bills during afternoon hours on Wednesday.
The House was adjourned as opposition Congress and BJP members opposed non-acceptance of an Adjournment Motion on PC (percentage) for a discussion.
As the Assembly met at 10.30 am, Opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati stood up at his seat and demanded that the Adjournment Motion on PC be accepted and discussed in the House.
In response, the Speaker said if an Adjournment Motion on PC is brought with a focus on a particular district or region, then he may consider it for discussion.
However, Bahinipati and other Congress and BJP members trooped into Well of the House and shouted slogans against the State Government. Unable to run the sitting, Amat adjourned the House at 10.31 am till 3 pm.
The House, however, passed as many as four Bills during the afternoon hours. The Bills are the Odisha land Rights to Slum Dwellers Bill, 2017 the Odisha Sales Tax (Settlement of Arrears) Amendment Bill, 2017, the Odisha Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the Odisha Agricultural Produce Markets (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
As per the Slum Dwellers Bill, urban poor living in slums would get homestead land free of cost. Slum dwellers would be provided 65 sq metre of land in NAC areas, 45 sq ft in municipality areas and 30 sq metre in municipal corporation areas. land patta would be provided to them. They can’t sell the land but can use the same as mortgage for loan purposes.
The Government would recover pending sales tax of about Rs 700 crore by way of the Sales Tax (Settlement of Arrears) Amendment Bill. A phrase ‘No-production of accounts’ in the last Bill was lifted as the amendment.
According to the Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, the one-time tax taken on light vehicles was enhanced from 5 per cent to 6 per cent. Similarly, power-tillers and tractors came under the one-time tax system. Taxes were too revised for luxury cars and heavy goods vehicles.