The Assembly for the third consecutive days witnessed ruckus over the growing cases of gang-rape and atrocity against women in the State occurring almost on daily basis.
The House on Thursday ran for only six minutes in the pre-lunch session as the opposition Congress members forced the Speaker to adjourn it twice till 3 pm demanding his ruling and a statement from the Chief Minister on the credible steps taken to check the recurrence of the heinous crimes.
No business could be transacted in the morning sittings due to the demonstration and slogan shouting by the Congress members in the well.
However, the House ran normally in the afternoon session to take up discussion and passing of the demand for grants relating to the Health and Family Welfare Department for the 2013-14 fiscal.
The trouble started as the House assembled for the day at10.30 am to take up the Question Hour. leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, drawing the attention of Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat to a fresh gangrape of a Dalit married woman in Ghodadanda village under Patkura police station in Kendrapada district, displayed news papers carrying the heinous incident. Besides, he also raised the issue of outraging the modesty of a fourth standard girl by a school headmaster in Nilagiri.
Condemning the fresh incidents, Singh regretted that despite the rising of crimes at an alarming rate against women and minor girls, the State Government had become a mute spectator without any credible steps to check them. Alleging that the Government had totally failed to control the crime against women, he urged the Speaker to give a ruling for a detailed discussion on the issue and demanded that the Chief Minister should make a statement on both the Patkura Dalit woman rape and Nilagiri incident and measures taken to protect women as a whole.
However, uproarious scene witnessed in the House as the Speaker without paying heed to the leader of Opposition tried to carry out the question hour and asked School and Mass Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda to answer a question. Protesting the Speaker’s action, the entire Congress members trooped into the well shouting anti-Government slogans like ‘stop atrocity on women, arrest the culprits’ and demonstrated before the Speaker’s podium.
Due to the chaotic situation, the House could hardly run for two minutes. Finding it difficult to carry on the business amidst demonstration, the Speaker first adjourned the House till12.45 pm.
later, when the House reassembled, leader of Opposition Singh drew the attention of the Speaker about the violation of observation of protocol order by the Government during the swearing-in ceremony of new Governor SC Jamir.
He alleged that when he did not get a seat, as per protocol the MlAs were not being invited to the function. Stating that some MlAs who went there to witness the function did not even get a chair, Singh demanded an apology from the
Government for disrespecting them. Singh also reiterated the issue of women atrocity and gangrape issue and alleged that the Government was deliberately avoiding discussion on the most sensitive issue in the House. Since the Congress members continued their demonstration in the well of the House in support of their demand, the Speaker adjourned the House for the second time at 12.49 pm till 3 pm.