| PDP, BJP ministers ignore CM's directions, stay away from LC | | Elders unhappy, feel sidelined | | Saqib Junaid
Early Times Report
srinagar, June 1: Despite Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's assurances that government would make efforts so that MLCs are not ignored, the ministers of the PDP-BJP government continue to show the non-seriousness towards the Legislative Council.
Cutting across party lines, the legislators of the Upper House had protested and staged walk out on Monday and Tuesday against the government's non-seriousness towards the Legislative Council.
Despite that the PDP-BJP ministers continue to show poor response towards the House and rarely attend its proceedings.
On Wednesday, as the discussion over the budget presented by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu was going on, all the ministers left the House. However, as the Drabu also left and reached to the door of the House, the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council called Drabu back. "No minister is present here. How can you leave the house? Who will listen to the concerns of the legislators," the Deputy Chairman told Drabu, prompting him to return back. "You all can't leave the House this way. You should listen to legislators," he added.
On Tuesday, after all legislators of the Upper House staged walk out against the government for not taking the House seriously, the Chief Minister assured the legislators that the issues regarding their accommodation, security and keeping provisions for including their issues in district and state plans will be addressed with utmost priority, "My father used to say that the real ideas and issues should come out in the Upper House. He used to say that those who have much more to contribute to the society are elected to upper house. I am not happy with the appearance of this house and we will see what the government can do to give it a facelift. Regarding the issue of your security and accommodation, the state has faced many problems after floods. We have ordered new cars and defunct cars are being repaired. I will ensure that all your problems are resolved," she assured the House in her speech.
For the last three days, the legislators of the House have expressed concern over ignoring them by the government.
"Most of the times, ministers remain absent in the Legislative Council, which shows their non-serious attitude towards the House," Congress legislator G N Monga said on Monday.
BJP's legislator Ramesh Arora had echoed the similar concerns in the House, while asking chairman Haji Inayat Ali to look into the matter.
"Why are ministers absent? They rarely come in the House and if any ministers come he sits for a while then leave," Arora has said. Some other legislators are also having concerns for not taking Legislative Council seriously.
Chairman Haji Inayat has also expressed concern for ignoring the Upper House and raised issue with the government.
Earlier, MLA Er Rashid had termed the Legislative Council, a hub of thieves. However, cutting cross party lines, legislators in the Upper houseTuesday staged walk out in a protest against the MLA Langate Er Abdul Rashid's "Ali Baba Chalees Choor" remark against the Legislative council.
Rashid on Monday had said that Upper house has been turned into a rehabilitation center and had termed it "hub of thieves". He had also termed it as "Ali Baba Chalees Choor". |
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