Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Legislatures appear to have done away with the much touted Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSC) constituted in united Andhra Pradesh in 2012.
Ten months after Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Legislatures came into being, consequent to bifurcation of the State, there is no word from either of the two Legislatures on the fate of the committees which were hailed as a solution to enable in-depth discussion on Bills proposed by the government as well as demands for grants of various Ministries.
Indications from the Response from the TS and AP officials clearly hinted that both the Legislatures are not too keen on continuing with the practice of DRSCs. The DRSCs were constituted when Nadendla Manohar and A. Chakrapani were the Speaker and Chairman of the two Houses. There were 12 Standing Committees to discuss government Bills and the budgetary allocations.
“The DRSCs were constituted in last Legislature as there was lot of unrest and disruptions of the proceedings. The idea was to allow the committees to discuss threadbare the budgetary allocations and come out with suggestions,” sources said.
Sources in the Telangana Legislature Secretariat said they have no word yet on whether the committees would be constituted. “When the united AP Legislature was functioning, the number of members getting an opportunity to speak in the House was less. With the new State of Telangana being formed the strength has come down and there is scope for everyone to participate in debate. Maybe, this is one reason why the idea of Standing Committee could have been put off,” an official remarked.
When contacted, a senior AP Legislature Secretariat official said it is for the government to take a call on whether the Standing Committees should be constituted. “As of now, there is no communication from the government,” the official said.
Former Speaker Manohar told The Hindu that the idea behind DRSCs was to make the members discuss the budgetary allocations in a more transparent and meaningful manner. “These DRSCs certainly have a role in shaping up the budget,” he said.
Telangana Congress MLA from Kalwakurthy Ch. Vamsichand Reddy felt that the TRS government’s reluctance to continue the tradition of DRSCs was yet another attempt to stifle the voice of opposition.
