The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday requested the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh to increase the proposed sittings of ensuing budget session to at least 20 from proposed seven so that “burning issues of the people can be discussed threadbare”.
The leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, in a letter to the Speaker, pointed that the number of sittings of Vidhan Sabha are decreasing every year as a result of which the members get very limited opportunity to express their views in the House.
“Important public issues are left unattended and members feel dissatisfied. Our AAP legislature Party had been raising this matter earlier too,” he said while citing detailed record of number of sitting from 1960.
He said: “If we have a glance on the period from 1952 to 1977, we would find that the number of sittings held during that period was far greater than the number of those of present times.
For instance, the number of sittings held during 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966 were 55, 37, 44, 54, 56, 67 and 32 respectively,” he said.
From the perusal of old debates of Vidhan Sabha, it appears that Partap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister, used to encourage the members to speak in the House and he himself used to reply the debate in the House for one to two hours, said Khaira adding that in this way, the members could find little opportunity to create ruckus in the House.
“Therefore, it is my humble request that the minimum number of sittings of the House during a financial year should not be less than 40 as per rule 14-A of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha so that the members may get sufficient opportunity to raise public issues in the House. It may help to lessen the chances of disorder in the House,” he said.
Khaita said that the government may take plea against increase in sittings of the House that there is no business to transact. “I would like to suggest that discussion may be held for a day or two on the burning issue of suicides being committed by farmers. Members may suggest ways and means, rising above party level, to help farmers to come out of the vicious circle of loan and to check suicides by farmers,” he added.
He also listed other issues including lakhs of youth feeling cheated on the issue of employment, grave resentment amongst people over the issue of illegal mining across the state, extortion of “goonda” tax by mafia allegedly backed by Congress leaders in Bathinda oil refinery, resentment amongst state’s employees, road accidents, among others.
“In the proposed programme, there are only seven sittings in the Budget session, whereas it used to be passed in 13-14 sittings as per details given in the attached sheet. General discussion of the Budget for five-six days followed by discussion on selected demands for grants for six to wight days and discussion on Appropriation Bill for one day and the opposition used to get lion's share in time to speak on the Bill,” he said while adding that presently, no time is allocated for discussion on demands for grants and by doing so we are scuttling the democratic set up.
He said that Haryana, which is much smaller state in size, has just held 12-sitting budget session, while you are proposing only seven sittings in the ensuing budget session, which is “nothing but making mockery of the vital institution of Vidhan Sabha”.
Further, he suggested that on the lines of both Houses of Parliament, State legislatures of Delhi, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, proceedings of the House may be telecast live. “People will watch the behaviour of members, answerability of the Government and in impartiality of the chair, which may prompt all concerned to act with responsibility,” he said.