Shimla: Speaker Kuldeep Pathania today said that all arrangements have been made for the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha beginning March 14, for which 732 questions have already been filed by the legislators.
Addressing a press conference here today, Pathania said that his endeavor would be to ensure smooth conduct of the session with the cooperation of both ruling and opposition members. “I have called an all-party meeting in my chamber on March 13, which will be attended by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harsh Vardhan Chouhan, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mohan Lal Brakta,” Pathania said.
“We have so far received 543 starred and 189 unstarred questions from legislators, most of which have been filed online,” he said. He said four notices under Rule 101 and three under Rule 130 have been received. Information about the questions of the MLAs was sought from the government.
Most of the questions were about unemployment, restoration of old pension scheme (OPS), vacancies in health and educational institutions, deteriorating law and order situation, promotion of tourism and rising drug addiction among youth.
“I am sure the legislators will raise issues related to their constituencies and the state and use this opportunity while maintaining the rules of the house,” he added.
Pathania said the session would end on April 6. “There will be a total of 18 meetings and the chief minister will present the budget on March 17.”
The House will begin on March 14 with paying homage to former minister and MLA from Karsog in Mandi Mansa Ram, who passed away recently.
He said that the House will debate the budget proposals for the financial year 2023-24 for four days from March 20 to March 23. The assembly will debate the budget demands through cut motions for three days on March 27, 28 and 29. The first session of the present 14th Legislative Assembly was held in Dharamshala in January. Being the first session, it started with the Governor’s address.
Parmar targeted
The war of words between Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Pathania and his predecessor Vipin Parmar is likely to escalate as the former reiterated that he was well aware of his responsibilities and duties. He said outside the assembly that he is an MLA who has the right to express his political views
