The Standing Committees of the Legislature are likely to be put in place before November this year.
Legislative Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar, who mooted the idea of the standing panels on the lines of the Parliament, directed the administration to be geared up to cooperate with the members of the panels in their effective functioning. The Speaker conducted a preparatory meeting on the issue with senior officials, including Chief Secretary Minnie Mathews, on Monday.
Mr. Manohar is understood to have told the Chief Secretary to sensitise the officials at lower levels about the functioning of the standing committees and the role they played in ensuring effective discharge of duties by the people’s representatives.
The Speaker reportedly took a serious view of the complaints related to protocol violations from the members. The administration had been directed to ensure that officials of all departments adhered to the norms.
The meeting discussed about the delay on the part of the administration in furnishing replies to the queries raised by MLAs/MLCs during the Question Hour and Zero Hour in both the Houses. Though officials reportedly attempted to justify the delay citing resolution of the issues raised, Mr. Manohar was said to have expressed dissatisfaction that members were not kept informed about the progress of the issues raised by them. Accordingly, the officials were asked to furnish replies to all queries within 15 days as the Speaker insisted that he wanted to commence the next session with “zero balance” in respect of replies.
