Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday decided to summon the monsoon session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from August 2 to 6, having just three operative days. In fact, with the first day dedicated to just the obituaries, there would be just two sittings during the Monsoon Session.
Unhappy, the Opposition parties — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — has raised objection over the “short session” accusing the Government of running away from debate on “people’s issues”, while seeking extension of the session.
The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, authorised the Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore to convene the 8th Session of the 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, as per clause (1) of Article 174 of the Constitution of India.
As per the spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office, the Session would commence in the afternoon of August 2 with obituary references, followed by two holidays — August 3 (Saturday) and August 4 (Sunday).
The Legislative Business would be transacted on August 5 and 6, said the spokesperson adding that the House would adjourn sine-die after the proposed legislative business
on August 6.
This will be the first Vidhan Sabha Session after the resignation by Navjot Singh Sidhu, who would now occupy the seat as an MLA.
AAP, which met the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana KP Singh after the Cabinet decided on the Session dates, demanded a two-day special assembly session each on core issues concerning Punjab and its people, while its senior MLA Aman Arora demanded to extend the session by 15 days at least.
The party also demanded live broadcast of the House proceedings.
Lashing out at the Congress Government for “running away from discussing burning issues of Punjabis”, the Akali Dal sought extension to three weeks.
A delegation of AAP MLAs, led by Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema, submitted a memorandum to the Speaker seeking a two-day special assembly session each on all core issues concerning Punjab and its people including serious water crisis, debate on all geographical, social, political, administrative and legal aspects associated with the polluted river waters, farm crisis, heavy debts and unabated suicides committed by farming community, menace of drugs and unemployment in Punjab forcing the youth getting hooked to drugs, among others.
The delegation demanded special debate over the worst-ever law and order situation in the state, politicisation of police administration and active mafia having direct access to prisons across the State.
Another serious issue figured in the memorandum was the falling standards of government school or college education and badly hit government health services in the state.
The AAP delegation also sought a detailed debate on the issue of allotment of five-marla plots to the homeless Dalit community, MGNREGA scheme, SC scholarship, etc.
The issue of high rate of electricity in the state, scrapping of anti-state power purchase agreements (PPAs) signed between the then BJP-SAD government and private thermal plants, and winding up government thermal plants in state also figured in the memorandum.
AAP’s Sunam MLA Aman Arora, who has written to the Speaker, dubbed the Cabinet decision to fix the monsoon session from August 2 to 6 as “injustice to the residents of Punjab” adding that all the issues cannot be discussed in such a short period of time.
He pointed that as per Section14-A of the ‘Rules of Procedure and Conduct in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha’, minimum 40 sittings are mandatory in a year. “But unfortunately over a period of time, successive Speakers have played to the tune of the Governments thus leading to the suppression of the voice of the people and the opposition, which is highly detrimental to a democratic setup,” he said.
In the same voice, the Akali Dal urged the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to hold a “three-week operative session” so that people’s issues including increase in farm suicides, new phenomenon of suicides by educated youth, unbearable increase in power tariffs, discrimination against the poor by deletion of blue cards and denial of SC scholarship could be discussed threadbare to the satisfaction of Punjabis.
“The announcement of a two-day operative session by the State Cabinet is akin to making a mockery of democracy. Though the assembly session has been announced officially from August 2 to 6, there are two holidays in between and the first day is reserved for obituaries, which means the effective session will be for two days only,” pointed former ministers and SAD MLAs Bikram Singh Majithia and Parminder Singh Dhindsa.
They declared that the SAD would “protest” against this in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee and demand that the session be extended for a three week spell.
SAD leaders said that by announcing a two-day session, the State Cabinet was riding roughshod over the aspirations of the common man who wanted all public issues to be discussed in the august House.
“It seems the government is afraid that it will be exposed and will be held accountable for cheating the people by making promises which it did not fulfil. The people want to know when the complete loan waiver scheme will be implemented. They are also keen to know the fate of the ‘ghar ghar naukari’ scheme as well as Rs 2,500 per month unemployment allowance promised to the youth. This has already resulted in suicides by youth including the recent suicide by a highly educated UGC NET scholar,” they said.
Stating that farm suicides had crossed the 1200-mark, the Akali leaders said that suicide victims were also not getting the promised Rs 10 lakh compensation and government job promised to them. “Urgent steps also need to be taken to stop the new trend of suicides by youth and farm labourers,” they said.
Majithia said that the common man had been burdened with an unbearable 25 percent hike in power tariff in the last more than two years of Congress rule. “Besides this, power supply is also erratic and farmers have suffered greatly on this account during the current paddy season,” he said adding that the party also wanted to discuss the mismanagement and failure of take advance steps to prevent breaches in the Ghaggar river which had caused widespread damage to standing crop and property.
Dhindsa said the party also wanted to raise issue of discrimination against the poorer sections with blue cards being deleted at the whims and fancies of Congress leaders to deny ‘aata-dal’ facility to the poor.
“Similarly, the Congress leaders are misusing the MNREGA scheme and a scam in this regard has already been unearthed in Faridkot district,” he said.
SAD also wanted to raise the issue of denial of arrears to State employees, denial of power to landing cost of Rs five per unit to industrial units and discrimination against 27,000 contractual employees who were still not getting regularized despite the fact that the erstwhile SAD-BJP government had even moved a bill in this regard during its tenure, he said.