A day before the commencement of the State Budget session, Legislative Assembly Speaker K.B. Koliwad has cracked the whip on errant legislators and said that members will lose their daily allowance if they come late to the sessions.
Mr. Koliwad said the new rule has been introduced from this budget session to make it mandatory for every member to sign the attendance register both in the morning and evening within an hour of commencement of the session. Members have to sign the register between 11 a.m. and noon during the morning session and between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. during the evening session of the Lower House.
“I have directed the staff to keep the attendance register in my chamber after one hour of commencement of the session,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Taking serious note of the low presence of members in the Lower House, Mr. Koliwad told presspersons that the attendance of legislators would be made public daily by giving reports to the media.
“We will inform the public/electorate every day on the attendance of their MLA. Whips of political parties should ensure that their MLAs attend sessions without fail,” he said, adding that it was hard to bring in a law on attendance. Steps would be taken to introduce biometric system to ensure legislators’ attendance, he said.
The Legislative Assembly met for 181 days since the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took charge in 2013 (from May 29, 2013 to December 3, 2016). During this period, several members did not attend the session more than 125 days.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Speaker presented his 15-point wishlist for effective functioning of the Assembly. This included minimum 60 days of session per year, effective functioning of all House Committees, and regular training sessions for MLAs from experts and parliamentarians.