Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Gaurishankar Agrawal on Thursday was all praise for the first time legislators whom he termed as very ‘bright’ and ‘knowledgeable’ individuals.
‘I have found the first time legislators coming to the House well prepared and presenting their thoughts very well during the previous session of the Assembly,’ he said while addressing his first press conference after assuming charge as the Speaker at the Chhattisgarh Assembly Secretariat. ‘I hope that they (first time) legislators will continue to participate actively in the forthcoming sessions. By seeing their previous session I am happy to announce that they were well attended by legislators,’ the Speaker stated.
He said that it is also the first time that a maximum of 52 first time legislators have been elected out of the total 90 seats for the 4th Chhattisgarh Assembly. Agrawal said that the two-day Orientation Programme for the newly elected legislators would be held on February 1 and 2 to apprise them on the legislative systems, procedures and conduct in the House which is held after formation of every Assembly in the State.
The Speaker said that the Orientation Programme would be inaugurated by lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on February 1 who would also address the legislators besides being the chief guest on the occasion. He said that on the concluding day of the Orientation Programme, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely and Deputy leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ravishankar Prasad would address the legislators.
The other prominent speakers on the concluding session of the programme would former Rajya Sabha MP Vikram Verma, Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Sitasharan Sharma, former Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly Prem Prakash Pandey, State Minister Brijmohan Agrawal, former Speaker of the Chhattisgarh Assembly who was also a Minister and leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey, the Speaker said. On the forthcoming budget session on February 3, the Speaker said that a total of 1,051 questions had been received from the members so far in which 644 are ‘starred’ and 407 are ‘unstarred’.
The last date for the submission of questions is February 3 besides notices for Calling Attention and Adjournment Motion would be accepted till January 29, he said. Agrawal said that the process of forming various committees would be taken up shortly in the Chhattisgarh Assembly. ‘It is also proposed that an Orientation Programme for the journalists must also be held to apprise them about various legislative procedures’, he said.
The Assembly session commencing on February 3 will commence after a 25 day gap following the first session of the Assembly which commenced on January 6 after the formation of the new Chhattisgarh Assembly on December 11, 2013, the Speaker stated. He said that the Assembly session starting once again on February 3 will continue till February 26.
‘It is an established tradition in the Chhattisgarh Assembly that the revenue-expenditure account of the State Government is tabled on Saturdays. As a result, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh who also holds the Finance portfolio will table the revenue-expenditure account of the State government on February 8,’ Agrawal said.