The fifth session of the 15th Kerala Assembly will commence on June 27. The 23-day session will be dedicated to passing the complete State Budget for the 2022-23 fiscal.
Speaker M.B. Rajesh, while addressing a press conference here on Friday, said 13 days have been allocated for discussion and voting on demands for grants in the Budget for the financial year. Various Bills including the Kerala Finance Bill, 2022, will be taken up for discussion on four days. Government business will be conducted across eight days during the session that will conclude on July 27.
Highest in country
He added that the current Assembly had passed 48 Bills and four government resolutions in the last four sessions conducted last year. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Assembly met for 61 days during the period, the highest in the country.
The Speaker also ordered action against four contract employees of the private agency that provides technical support to the House channel ‘Sabha TV’ for aiding the entry of Italy-based non-resident Indian (NRI) Anitha Pullayil to the Assembly complex during the Loka Kerala Sabha.
On the basis of an inquiry, the four employees — Faseela, Vibhuraj, Praveen, and Vishnu — have been barred from the Assembly premises.
“While Ms. Pullayil possessed an invitation to the open forum held outside the Assembly building, she managed to enter the main building along with Faseela who carried passes for entry. The other three workers were also in the Sabha TV office then and were aware of her presence,” he said.
‘No police probe’
Maintaining that no employee of the Legislative Assembly had any role in ensuring her access, Mr. Rajesh said he did not intend to seek a police investigation into the incident. The NRI, who had courted controversy with her purported proximity to fake antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal, had triggered a political row after she managed to enter the Assembly despite not being on the guest list for the biennial event.
Entry to the Assembly premises will be further strengthened in wake of the incident, the Speaker has said.
