At the launch of Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha principal secretary Awadhesh Pratap Singh’s book Legislature’s Practice and Procedure on Monday, Speaker Girish Gautam complained about MLAs not paying much attention to Assembly rules and procedures.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Girish Gautam has criticised MLAs for “not paying much attention to the rules, laws and conduct of the House” and the media for giving “space” to such legislators who “create ruckus” during proceedings.
Ironically, Gautam’s sermon did not reflect in the 21 months of his tenure with more than 70 Bills and ordinances being passed in less than 90 hours.
At the launch of Vidhan Sabha principal secretary Awadhesh Pratap Singh’s book Legislature’s Practice and Procedure at the Assembly’s convention hall on the first day of the Winter Session on Monday, Gautam complained of MLAs not showing interest in reading and the media playing an important role in it.
“Since the media gives space to legislators who create ruckus or protest inside the Assembly, the MLAs act accordingly and don’t pay much attention to the rules, laws and conduct of the House,” he said in the presence of MLAs, ministers and coaching students.
Recalling famous MLAs like socialist leader Jagadamba Prasad Nigam and the BJP’s Sunderlal Patwa, Gautam pointed out, “They were the masters of the Assembly—its functioning and the government. It is missing in today’s lawmakers.”
Expressing disappointment at the drop of Assembly sessions and the lack of participation of legislators, he said, “In public speeches, MLAs often say that the Assembly is their temple and they are the priests. But if the priests are not educated, how will the devotees trust the temple?”
“It’s the responsibility of the MLAs to maintain the dignity of the House and attack each other with wit, facts and logical arguments and not mudslinging,” he added
Terming the book “sacred” for new legislators, he said, “As demanded by Opposition leader Govind Singh and home minister Narottam Mishra, a copy of the book will be issued to all the 230 members of the House so they can understand the functioning in basic Hindi.”
Nonetheless, Gautam’s preaching did not reflect during his tenure. More than 74 Bills and ordinances many of which have provisions for capital punishment and jail for up to 20 years were passed in just 89 hours between March 2020 and August 2021. More than 36 ordinances were passed without any debate, including in two Budget Sessions.
In 2020, the Assembly passed 33 Bills and ordinances in just 113 minutes whereas, in 2021, 41 Bills and ordinances were passed in 62 hours till August, according to official records.
Many of the important laws that have provisions for life imprisonment, fines up to 20 lakh and capital punishment were passed without debate.
“The recent trend of passing laws without debate in the Assembly seems unhealthy for democracy,” Sitasharan Sharma, former Speaker and sitting BJP MLA from Itarsi, told Newsclick.
“A healthy debate in the Assembly over a proposed Bill puts a light on the pros and cons of the law and then the concerned department fixes it. But it’s not happening,” Sharma said.
Besides, the House functioned for only 1.53 hours in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Vidhan Sabha website. In February 2021, when Gautam was elected Speaker, the House functioned only 62 hours and further dropped to around 23 hours in 2022, including the Budget and the Monsoon sessions.
Year-wise functioning of Madhya Pradesh Assembly
During the Monsoon Session, Gautam launched a booklet barring the usage of 1,161 words and phrases which was opposed by MLAs.
Words like ‘ventilator’, ‘dictator’, ‘postman’, ‘naxalwad’ (Maoists), ‘anyay’ (injustice), ‘habitual’, ‘bechara’ (helpless), ‘halla’ (noise), ‘bhedbhav’ (discrimination), ‘chor’ (thief), ‘yaar’ (friend), ‘corrupt’, ‘Pappu’, ‘bandhuwa mazdoor’ (bonded labourer) and ‘bantadhar’ (catchphrase used for former CM Digvijay Singh) were declared unparliamentary and if someone used them, they would be expunged.
The booklet was not only opposed by the Congress but also by BJP leader and former pro tem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma.
Minutes after the book launch, former minister and Congress legislator Kamleshwar Patel said that the “reliability of the House is in question”. “Legislators filed questions but did not get answers even after three-to-four sessions. Stringent laws and Budgets are passed without debates,” he told Newsclick.
“The five-day long Monsoon Session ended in three days in a lieu of PM Narendra Modi’s Kuno visit. Yet the Speaker did not say anything. Not a single good debate was held in the last two years. Everyone is just passing the time,” Patel added.
“To hide corruption, the 18-year-long BJP government neither has an interest in running the Assembly nor replying to questions. All important questions were turned down saying ‘collecting information’ or ‘not available’,” Patel said.
“Even after two years of joining the BJP, former Congress MLA Sachin Birla’s membership has not been cancelled. His application was turned down thrice by the Speaker,” Patel said alleging that the “autonomous” Assembly is “working as an arm of the government.
“It’s the Speaker’s duty to hold longer sessions, ensure debate on every Bill and raise tough questions during the Question Hours and ensure replies. Surely, it will restore people’s trust, Patel added.
Courtesy: Newsclick