Dehra Dun : The malaise of our legislators making a waste of the tax payers’ money has percolated down from the Lok Sabha to the vidhan sabhas in the states, much to the chagrin of the ‘aam aadmi’ who looks forward to issues relating to their woes being taken up, discussed and resolved at that level.
The recent three day session of the Uttarakhand vidhan sabha was a glaring example. Though the session was held for three days, but actual business transacted in the House was just for an hour, with the remaining time being wasted in creating a bedlam by the opposition Congress members and not allowing the House to function.
It was rather disappointing to see that rather than taking up issues that would uplift the lot of the man on the street and bring some semblance of urgency to his problems, the Congress legislators were playing to the gallery with the ensuing vidhan sabha elections in mind.
They created a din in the House on a the demand for ordering a CBI enquiry into the scams that allegedly took place during the tenure of previous chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’. All pleas for restoring order in the House to allow it to function normally by Speaker Harbans Kapoor fell on deaf ears.
And it was not only the Congress legislators that were to blame, for even the chief minister and the ruling BJP benches were keen that the disturbance by the opposition benches continues. The reason obviously was to introduce and pass the three bills without any discussion.
It was perhaps the first time in the Uttarakhand vidhan sabha that the entire session passed without a single question being asked and answered during question hour. And this when it is being presumed that this was the last session of the vidhan sabha as with elections round the corner, the moral code of conduct will come into force before the next sitting.
What was further disheartening was that the school children who had come to get first hand knowledge of the proceedings of the House, as to how the Bills are introduced, the discussion between the treasury and opposition benches, passing of Bills by voice vote, the question hour and other proceedings, had to return disappointed.
Speaker Harbans Kapoor admitted that it was sad that the legislators, specially of the opposition Congress wasted three valuable days, when they could have utilised the time on taking up prominent issues and discussing them threadbare and even cornering the government to score a point.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
