MLAs to be taken on board for development in their

Jammu and Kashmir government today said members of Legislative Assembly will be taken on board while making decisions on development works in their respective constituencies after opposition created ruckus in the House on not being consulted for the same.
The issue was raised in the assembly by National Conference MLA from Pahalgam Altaf Kaloo who alleged he was not invited to a meeting yesterday on tourism-related activities in his constituency by Minister of State for Tourism Priya Sethi.
He said MLAs had to face the electorate and were answerable to them.
"Let the minister tell us how many votes she had got in the elections," Kaloo said in a sarcastic reference to Sethi, who is a nominated member of the House.

As Speaker Kavinder Gupta and Sethi did not respond to allegations, opposition members from both Congress and NC asked the government to make a statement.
Forest Minister Chaudhary Lal Singh said it was not necessary that local MLA needs to be taken into confidence when a minister visits his or her constituency.

"Also, nobody has the right to ask a nominated member about how many votes they have got," he added.
This triggered an angry response from the opposition members who stormed the well of the House.
Later, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri intervened and said MLAs will be taken on board in future.

"I do not want to go into the past. But we will ensure that the local MLA is taken on board whenever there are development related meetings or inauguration of projects," Veeri said.