Oppn raises the issue of absence of ministers in the House

Odisha Assembly on Wednesday witnessed noisy scenes as the opposition MLAs raised the issue of absence of ministers in the House, forcing Speaker S N Patro to ask the government chief whip to ensure that at least one minister should be present when the proceeding is on.

The matter cropped up during the Zero Hour when Leader of Congress Legislature Party Narasingha Mishra was speaking on the mysterious death of a woman panchayat extension officer in Jajpur district on October 16.

When Mishra was speaking, senior Congress members Taraprasad Bahinipati and Santosh Singh Saluja drew the attention of the Speaker that there is no minister in the House. They said at least one member of the council of ministers must be present when the House is functioning.

 

Calling it BJD governments lack of respect towards the House, Bahinipati, Saluja and others rushed to well of the House and shouted slogans. The opposition BJP members also strongly condemned the absence of any minister in the House.

Going a step forward, Mishra started making headcounts of BJD lawmakers and found only 25 of the 113 BJD members present in the House and not a single minister.

As the issue cropped up, at least four ministers - Sudam Marndi (Revenue and Disaster Management), B K Arukha (Parliamentary Affairs), Niranjan Pujari (Finance) and Padmini Dian - rushed to the House.

"It is the responsibility of the government chief whip to ensure that at least one minister should be present when the House is functioning. Please ensure that one member from the government should be there," the speaker said.

While targeting the state government, Mishra said: "Whatever the members say or raise issues should reach the government through ministers. It is a fact that media is there to ensure that the issues debated in House reach the people, but ministers have specific roles to play in the assembly. Therefore, at least one of the ministers needs to remain present in the House."

The Assembly had also witnessed a similar situation on Tuesday.

BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the first day of the winter session of the Assembly on November 13, had asked all the party MLAs to be punctual and sincerely attend the proceeding. The direction, though not a whip, was made keeping in view the party MLAs absence in the House after Question Hour.

Patnaik has assigned the government chief whip Pramilla Mallick to keep a tab on the attendance of the BJD members in the House and report him daily at 11.30 am. Even the party president has informed the MLAs that they need to take permission from him if anyone needs leave for more than two days.

Mallick admitted that there was no minister in the House for some time.

"The ministers had gone outside the House for time being and they immediately returned the joined the proceeding," Mallick said adding that she will ensure that at least one minister remains present in the House henceforth.