Speaker G. Karthikeyan will convene a meeting of all legislature party leaders to discuss smooth conduct of the Budget session of the Kerala Assembly beginning on Friday.
The meeting is proposed in view of frequent disruption of the proceedings during the last session of the Assembly by Opposition protests and adjournments.
The Speaker told the media on Wednesday that while protests were the democratic right of the Opposition, they needed to draw a limit to protests. A Lakshman Rekha ought to be there. The smooth conduct of the session was important as debate on the Budget and Bills were of paramount importance.
Mr. Karthikeyan said that the House would sit for 16 days during the session which would end on April 10. The session begins with presentation of the Budget on March 15 and March 18, 19 and 20 will be devoted to general discussion on the Budget. The discussion on vote on account will take place the next day. March 25 will be set apart for discussion of Private Members’ Bills. The House will consider and vote on the Appropriation Bill on March 26.
The House will meet again April 1 for considerations of Bills to replace Ordinances and other legislation. As many as 13 Ordinances need replacement and the Business Advisory Committee meeting on March 19 will decide the priorities.
The Speaker said that public functions needing presence of members of the Assembly should be avoided during the session. Organisers of functions should also see that there is no violation of protocol.
