To clear decks for the enforcement of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Act in the State, the Trivendra Singh Rawat Government is going to convene a two-day special session of the Vidhan Sabha beginning from May 1. The Governor Dr KK Paul later officially approved the Government’s proposal on Wednesday.
However, the intriguing part of the matter is that the Cabinet that sat on Wednesday did not deliberate over the proposal of the special session being convened. This was because, the sources said, of the rule that stipulates that the notification for convening the Assembly session must be issued to the members of the House at least 14 days in advance.
As per the rule, after the Cabinet decides the timetable of the session, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry would be informed. Thereafter, the Ministry would inform the Speaker and the Speaker would on his part then put on his signature on the proposal following which the proposal would be sent to Rajbhawan, seeking the Governor’s final approval.
Once the Governor gives the official nod the Vidhan Sabha issues intimation to the members of the House of the timetable of the session being convened.
The Cabinet during Wednesday’s meeting is learnt to have discussed issues pertaining to four departments -power, disaster, food and civil supply and finance.
However, to the disappointment of the media persons who kept on waiting for hours to be briefed about what has transpired in course of the meeting, no official briefing was held after the cabinet meeting was over. The media persons were told that the Government had strictly asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister and the bureaucrats concerned not to disclose anything to the media. As per the rule, once the notification is issued the government cannot make any announcement outside the Vidhan Sabha. However, Article 174(4) says if the Speaker is convinced that means of communication being in good shape, the members can be informed within a short space of time the Speaker can convene the session of the Assembly much earlier than the stipulated 14-day gap.
This is why, the sources said, the Government has disseminated the information of the special session through the social media and whatsApp so as to enable the members to be informed a few days ahead of the start of the scheduled session.