Even as the State Assembly witnessed a long-hour adjournment till 3 pm on Tuesday over Mahanadi issue, things got normal in the afternoon.
leader of Opposition Narasinga Mishra spoke on a host of issues while several reports and the important the Odisha Official language (Amendment) Bill, 2016 were presented.
When the House met in the morning, Opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati stood at his chair and demanded that the Chief Minister be asked to submit replies to all questions raised during the two-day Mahanadi discussion. The Chief Minister was at his seat then. As the Speaker didn’t listen and went ahead with the Question Hour programme, all Congress and BJP members rushed to the Well of the House and shouted slogans against the Chief Minister.
Unable to run, Speaker Niranjan Pujari adjourned the House till 3 pm. However, normalcy was restored in afternoon hours. leader of Opposition Mishra slammed the Chief Minister for avoiding views of the House on the Mahanadi issue and said the Congress legislature Party would meet President Pranab Mukherjee soon over the issue.
He slammed the State Government for delay in construction of the lower Suktel Irrigation Project and demanded that the project be completed at the earliest.
“Due to inefficiency and negligence of the State Government, the lower Suktel Project is yet to be completed. land acquisition work has not been finished and the displaced persons are yet to get compensation,” alleged Mishra.
He said while the project started in 2005 with a cost estimate of around `1,200 crore, the estimate has gone manifold by now. Besides, the purpose of providing irrigation has not been served to Balangir and adjoining areas. “Hence, I demand that the displaced be given their compensation and the project be completed at the earliest,” Mishra said, seeking a direction from Speaker Pujari.
BJP legislature Party leader KV Singh Deo too placed the same demand. As many as eight reports were presented. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh presented the Odisha Official language (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
Noting certain Odia words used in the Odia copy of the Bill, the leader of Opposition said he didn’t understand accurate meaning of the words in the Bill.
“Odia language has words to express legal and other matters. The Government should be careful in using words that can be understood by common people,” he demanded.
He slammed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for absence during the presentation of the Bill.