Left Front members today walked out of the Assembly in protest against the passing of the West Bengal State Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Skill Development Bill, 2013 without first referring it to the Select Committee for scrutiny.
Democratic Socialist Party MLA and former Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prabodh Chandra Sinha said an understanding had been reached in the last Business Advisory Committee meeting that since it was a new bill, it would be sent to the Select Committee after its introduction and formal discussion in the House.
CPI(M) member Anisur Rahaman also raised the issue. But Speaker Biman Banerjee did not pay attention while carrying on with the process of the bill's passage.
According to the provisions of the bill, the two existing councils, the West Bengal State Council of Technical Education and the West Bengal State Council of Vocational Education and Training, are amalgamated to set up an integrated council for better administration.
To make this possible, the state government also repealed the West Bengal State Council of Technical Education Act, 1995 and the West Bengal State Council of Vocational Education and Training Act, 2005.
Technical Education and Training Minister Ujjal Biswas said the amalgamation of the two existing councils would help strengthen skill development initiatives in a co-ordinated manner.
Sinha later told reporters outside the House that despite assurance by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the BA Committee meeting, the government failed to respect the understanding.
Since the bill had far-reaching implications, it required clarifications to boost development process in the state, he said.
Describing the passing of the bill as 'unprecedented', Sinha said that making legislation was a serious matter and that it required proper application of mind and higher ethical standards from the government side. Anisur Rahaman described the bill's passage as an "attack on democracy".
