The storm in the coffee-cup raised by the Congress legislators over denial of access to the Chief Minister is all set to subside. Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday declared a weekly rendezvous with the MlAs of all parties.
He has earmarked days when the MlAs could not only meet him, but also discuss issues with the officials of the Chief Minister’s office (CMO).
The development assumes significance in the wake of reports that murmurs of discontentment were heard loud and clear, not only within the party, but also in the opposition party’s camp.
The MlAs, especially that of the ruling Congress party, have been expressing their displeasure for not being heard. In fact, it has been learnt that many Congress MlAs have expressed their resentment with the leader of Shiromani Akali Dal, which even party chief Sukhbir Badal also confirmed.
Sources informed The Pioneer that the “serious” issue was communicated to the Chief Minister by the party top brass, following which the scheduled has been prepared.
As per the schedule, the Chief Minister would meet the MlAs every Wednesday, while two days a week —Tuesday and Thursday — have been designated for legislators’ meetings or interactions with the officers in the CMO.
Besides, the Chief Minister would attend the official meetings, including that of the Council of Ministers, on Mondays and Fridays. These meetings would be attended by the concerned officers of the CMO who look after the work of that department.
Other than that, the Chief Minister has also designated the CMO officers for coordinating works in different districts. Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Suresh Kumar would take care of overall coordination work of all districts.
The Principal Secretary to Chief Minister would take care of five districts of Mohali, Patiala, Barnala, Sangrur and ludhiana, while the Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister would be responsible for SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Pathankot and Jalandhar.
Deputy Principal Secretary to CM (A) would coordinate work in Kapurthala, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Muktsar, Bathinda, and Amritsar. Deputy Principal Secretary to CM (S) has been given the work for Moga, Ropar, Mansa, and Hoshiarpur.
Welcoming the move, a Congress MlA, requesting anonymity, said at least they could be heard this way. “Neither the Government nor the officers were listening to us...We were not able to get any of our work done despite having our own party’s Government. Atleast, we can directly take up issues with the Chief Minister this way,” said the MlA.
Another Congress MlA said the only time they could get to meet the Chief Minister was during Assembly Sessions.
Not only the Chief Minister, even the Ministers have also gone out of bounds for the MlAs. The Education Department alone had received no less than 5,500 transfer applications through MlAs, but none of them was approved.
So much so, some of the Congress MlAs has also complained to the Chief Minister against the Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary, but to no avail.
The MlAs have been complaining of not getting funds to carry out works in their constituencies which they promised during election campaigns as the Finance Department was citing “funds crunch”.
However, with the Chief Minister designating a day for listening to the elected representatives, irrespective of all parties, the things are expected to change.