The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly announced that the forthcoming session has been curtailed from 25 days to 10 days. Coming out of the Business Advisory Committee meeting, Opposition members were visibly fuming for not being heard or discussed while accusing the government of deciding unilaterally without any discussion.
Hopes of a full-fledged session may have been dashed, but curtailing the session and not looking into the option of resuming the session after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival has exposed a lack of will to conduct House business.
While Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated that the workforce is a major limitation to holding assembly session and panchayat elections simultaneously, his justification of curtailing sessions by comparing with other States is in bad taste and not in the spirit of the legislature. The primary job of public representatives is to participate in law-making, holding discussions on behalf of constituents and holding the government accountable. It’s the supreme duty of every MLA to uphold the interests and aspirations of the people they represent and work unitedly in the larger interest of the State. The curtailment of the session has not only put a cloud of uncertainty over the business of the House but also threw a question mark over key proposals like POGO, 80 per cent employment guarantee and 'dhirios'.
Ironically, the government by its brute majority continues to show arrogance by bulldozing through legislative procedures leaving a disjointed Opposition mere spectators. This doesn’t bode well for fair democracy and speaks volumes of how the treasury benches are going to conduct business when the House goes into session. On the flip side, the Opposition disunity was reflected on this very day itself, when members were seen taking divergent stands on topics of public interest.
While the government had its way, as expected, the Opposition's failure was as clear as daylight. The Opposition failed to seek accountability over the argument of manpower and meekly accepted it. It would be interesting to understand the overlap of manpower, and whether it could be addressed. The government is known to be drafting its employees as stop-gaps and deputing many on ad-hoc basis. Recently, department heads and other administrative staff were appointed as administrators to the 186 panchayats which are scheduled to go to the polls on August 10.
Under the cover of panchayat elections, it appears that an attempt is being made to evade scrutiny, but the government’s resistance appears strange given the background that the Opposition has been considerably defanged and also disunited. Also, if holding a shorter session was on the mind, what’s the idea about holding orientation drills for legislators? Does it matter in such a set-up where the legislators are refrained from exercising their mandate? And what kind of example is being set to the 19 first-time legislators who are about to make a debut in the hallowed precincts of the legislative assembly?
Consistently curtailing Assembly sessions is bad for both legislature and democracy. It reflects badly on the government’s commitment to the State and its people.
