With just three days remaining for the March 23 meeting, which is supposed to take Jharkhand parliamentarians on board on developmental issues, not a single MP has received an official invitation.
Uncertain about the venue and timing of the meeting, several members are still to make up their minds on whether to come down to Ranchi for the meeting. Others have decided to give the meeting a slip.
“I have no information about the meeting and the information that I have is through newspaper reports. I have no idea about the venue and timing,” said Giridih MP Ravindra Kumar Pandey.
Similar was the opinion of Rajya Sabha MP KD Singh. “My office has not received any official communication. How can we make any strategy about the meetingIJ
I am not sure whether to attend the meeting or not,” said the TMC leader.
Decision to hold consultations among MPs hailing from the State had reached here last Friday. Replying to the objections raised in the lok Sabha by MPs representing Jharkhand, Finance Minister P Chidambaram agreed to give the mechanism a chance.
The Union Minister had said that to incorporate the suggestions coming from MPs, a meeting would take place in the presence of the Governor and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh in Ranchi.
Chatra MP Inder Singh Namdhari could not be contacted over phone as he was busy with legislative work in the lower House. One of his close aides, however, said the MP had not been intimated about the proposed meeting by the State government. “We are expecting an official letter from the State government about the meeting since this was confirmed by the Finance Minister himself in Parliament. If we don’t get an official intimation, how can the MP reach Ranchi on his own and participate in the meeting informally,” he said.
However, following the decision, the Chief Secretary’s office had issued letters to the Home and Planning and Development departments and marked it to the Cabinet Coordination department also for arranging the meet. The first two departments had been told to finalise the agenda of the consultations, expected at 3 pm at the Governor’s House.
“We have got the letter from the Chief Secretary, but no communication has taken place from the Centre. The Parliament is in session till March 22 and we are expecting to get the letter before that. The letters to MPs would be sent after getting the orders,” a senior official of Cabinet Coordination department told The Pioneer.
Some MPs are set to give the meeting a miss citing prior engagements. “Jharkhand Budget would come up for discussion on March 22 in the Rajya Sabha and I will be speaking on that. It is more important for me as I am the lone MP in the House from my party. If the debate is extended, I am not sure whether I will be able to come for the meeting,” said JMM’s Sanjeev Kumar.
BJP member and Deputy Speaker in lok Sabha, Karia Munda and Sudarshan Bhagat have plans to go abroad at the time. “The MP has a prescheduled visit to the US as he will be part of the parliamentary delegation visiting the country. He will leave on March 22 evening,” said a close aide of Bhagat.
Ravindra Pandey, however, said he would raise issues of burnt transformers under the rural electrification scheme, irregularities in PMGSY and inclusion of Dhanbad district for BRGF at the meeting.