Uttarakhand Assembly Winter Session: MLAs put 524 questions, session will be challenging for Speaker

Mak Dell28/11/2022

Dehradun: Legislators have shown enthusiasm to raise questions for the winter session of Uttarakhand Assembly. So far 524 questions related to various subjects put by the MLAs are an example of this.

Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan said that this reflects the awareness of the legislators that they are aware of the subjects related to their area and the state. He said that he would urge the MLAs to present their views peacefully in the House. Along with this, discuss in detail what should be the direction of the state.

Vidhansabha Speaker Khanduri told the media after the meeting called regarding the security arrangements during the session that all the preparations for the session are almost complete.

Working with coordination, it will be everyone’s effort to make the session run with love, comfortably. To a question, he said that there are 182 employees in the Vidhansabha. Marshals are also sufficient. If needed, we will make arrangements for the police, but such a situation will not come.

Earlier, Vidhansabha Speaker Khanduri, in a meeting held in the Vidhansabha Bhawan’s auditorium, discussed with the officials about the security arrangements during the session. In the meeting, many points were discussed in view of the facilities and security of ministers, legislators, media and spectators.

The Speaker instructed the officers to keep the system tidy. Also expected cooperation from all like previous sessions. Chief Secretary Dr. SS Sandhu, Director General of Police Ashok Kumar, Additional Director General of Police Law and Order V Murugesan, Divisional Commissioner Sushil Kumar, Inspector General of Police Intelligence AP Anshuman, District Magistrate Dehradun Sonika, Deputy Inspector General of Police Garhwal Karan Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Police Intelligence Nivedita Kukreti and other officers were present in the meeting. Were.

228 ad hoc employees were recently dismissed from the Vis Secretariat
The winter session of Vidhansabha starting from 29th November will also be challenging for the Speaker. He will have to run the house with fewer employees as well as with the help of a caretaker secretary.

However, Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan says there is no such thing as a challenge. All the officers and employees are experienced and fully capable of conducting the session. All together will run the winter session better.

The winter session of the Vidhansabha, which is being held under the changed circumstances, is expected to remain stormy. The opposition is vocal on issues like recruitment scams and Vanantara Resort episode and has made a strategy to surround the government inside and outside the House. Although, the government has also prepared arrows in its quiver for this.

In the midst of this scenario, from the point of view of the Vidhansabha Secretariat, there will be a matter of shortage of personnel in front of it. 228 ad hoc employees appointed in the years 2016, 2020 and 2021 were dismissed. In the investigation conducted after the matter of recruitment case caught fire, it came to light that these recruitments were done against the rules.

In such a situation, the workload of these personnel removed from various sections is also bound to fall on other employees. Not only this, Mukesh Singhal, secretary of the assembly, is under suspension. He is accused of selecting a controversial agency for recruitment in the assembly in the past.

However, to ensure that the work of the Vidhansabha is not affected, the Deputy Secretary of the Accounts Cadre has been given the responsibility of the Secretary-in-Charge as part of a makeshift arrangement. As a result, there will be a challenge to conduct the proceedings of the House with less staff.

It is not a new thing that ad hoc recruitment in the Vidhansabha has been approved by deviation.
Even though the opposition raised the issue of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami approving through deviation for 72 ad hoc appointments in the Vidhansabha Secretariat in the year 2021, this is not the first time.

Even before this, during the tenure of Congress and BJP governments, there has been a history of giving approvals for ad-hoc recruitment by deviating from the Legislative Assembly on behalf of the then Chief Ministers. The special thing about the approval given in the year 2021 is that it was only for one year, which was to end in December 2022.

If we look back on ad hoc recruitments in the Vidhansabha, this tradition has been going on since the formation of the state. The DK Kotia committee, formed after the matter of 72 appointments in the Vidhansabha caught fire, has also mentioned this in its investigation report.

If we look at the history of recruitment in the Legislative Assembly, in the year 2001, during the tenure of the interim government, the then Chief Minister Nityanand Swami had given approval for ad hoc recruitment to 53 posts in the Legislative Assembly. After this, during the tenure of the Congress government, the then Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari gave similar approval for 80 posts from the year 2002 to the year 2006.

After the formation of the BJP government in the year 2007, the then Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri had approved the recruitment of 27 posts. Not only this, in the year 2012 the public handed over the power to the Congress. During the tenure of the Congress government, the then Chief Minister Harish Rawat gave deviation approval for seven posts in the year 2014 and 149 in the year 2016. The same tradition continued even after the formation of the BJP government in the year 2017 and in the year 2021, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami gave similar approval for 72 posts.

In fact, regarding ad-hoc appointments in the Vidhansabha, the Vidhansabha sends proposals to the government. After getting approval from the government, whatever process is followed regarding the recruitment, it is done at the level of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Chief Minister Dhami in his previous tenure gave approval for ad hoc posts through devolution, but restraining it was given for a period of one year.