BHOPAL: On March 15, only the first-time MLAs will hold discussions in the State Assembly, said Speaker Girish Gautam. All starred questions on which discussions will take place during Question Hour on March 15 would be from legislators who have been elected to the Assembly for the first time, the Speaker said.
The initiative will ‘raise the confidence’ of first-time elected legislators and also help them learn about the House proceedings, said the Speaker, while talking to the media here on Friday. On March 15, queries of senior MLAs would be kept aside and the lottery system would choose 25 from the list submitted by the first-timers, he said. "Senior MLAs won't be allowed to ask counter-questions either during this period. It'll raise the self-confidence of the new MLAs and, in the process, they'll also learn about the House proceedings," the Speaker said.
Gautam explained that that about 150-200 questions were received every day from the MLAs and a lottery system was deployed to choose 25 queries on which discussions are held during Question Hour. It was seen that new legislators were not getting enough chance to raise their issues. Usually, around 10 MLAs get a chance to speak during Question Hour, and new legislators often do not get the opportunity to take part as senior MLAs, some with good oratory skills, tend to take up a lot of time, said Gautam.
Stating that he intended to run the House according to Assembly laws, permanent orders and parliamentary culture, the Speaker said he would not favour anyone in the House. He said that he would work in an unbiased manner and secure the rights of the MLAs in the Assembly. The Speaker said that political parties should give more opportunity to women candidates so that their numbers increased in the Vidhan Sabha, as well as in the Lok Sabha.
