The main opposition in Punjab Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), today demanded that minimum 40 sittings of the House in a financial year be made compulsory as per rules.
The party's Punjab co-president and the MLA from Sunam, Aman Arora, in a letter to the Assembly speaker, also demanded that the proceedings of the House be telecast live.
In the letter, the AAP leader said under Rule 14-A, Chapter-IV of Punjab Assembly rules, it has been laid down that in a financial year, there shall be three sessions, namely budget, summer/monsoon and winter.
Arora said the rules further laid down that the total number of sittings in all the sessions put together "shall" not be less than 40.
"The use of the word shall in this rule shows the unflinching intention to compulsorily have minimum of 40 sittings," the legislator said.
He termed the track record of the Amarinder Singh government from 2002 to 2007 "quite disappointing" and said there were 18 sittings of the Assembly in 2005 and 14 in 2003.
Even this year, only 11 sittings of Assembly have been held so far, he AAP leader said.
"It is a matter of deep concern that with the passage of time, the custodians of this august House and successive governments have systematically undermined this mandatory provision requiring three sessions and a minimum of 40 sittings in a year, thus avoiding discussions and debates over public issues on the pious platform of Vidhan Sabha," he said.
Arora said another thing that can improve the functioning of the Assembly is live telecast of the proceedings of the House.
Live telecast of the Assembly proceedings will ensure accountability of its elected members leading to a more vibrant and strengthened democracy, which unfortunately has been denied to the electorate of Punjab all these years, the AAP leader claimed.
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