Finally, Speaker sets up Panels on Shrines Bill, Health Institutions

Sanjeev Pargal

JAMMU, May 26: Exactly a week after the Excelsior carried a report on extraordinary delay in constitution of Joint Select Committee (JSC) on ‘The Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation) Bill and House Committee on alleged discrimination in sanctioning/opening of Health Institutions (Sub Health Centres) in Jammu and Kashmir, Legislative Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul today announced constitution of both the Panels.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Speaker has appointed Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mir Saifullah as Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Kashmiri Hindu Shrines Bill, which would have a total of 15 members—10 from the Assembly and five from the Legislative Council.
The Assembly members in the JSC, nominated today by the Speaker, included Surjit Singh Slathia and Rashpal Singh (both NC), MY Tarigami (CPM), Mohammad Sharief Niaz and Indu Pawar (Congress), Abdul Rehman Veeri (PDP), Yashpal Kundal (NPP), Prof Gharu Bhagat (BJP) and Charanjit Singh (Independent).
Council Chairman Amrit Malhotra has already nominated five members to the JSC, who included Khalid Najeeb Suhrawardhy and Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri (both NC), B R Kundal and Sham Lal Bhagat (both Congress) and Yash Sharma (PDP).
The Speaker has directed the Committee to submit its report to the House during next session of the Assembly, which would be last session of present Assembly and is likely to be held in August in Srinagar, the summer capital of the State. Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled to have Assembly elections in November-December this year.
Mubarak Gul also announced nine members House Committee headed by former Minister and National Conference MLA Dr Mustafa Kamaal to look into alleged discrimination in sanctioning/opening of Health Institutions in the State.
The House Committee comprised Nasir Aslam Wani and Javaid Ahmed Dar (both NC), Tsetan Namgayal (Independent), Rafi Ahmed Mir and Nizzam-ud-Din Bhat (both PDP), Ashok Kumar Bhagat (Congress), Bharat Bhushan (BJP) and Engineer Sheikh Abdul Rashid (Independent).
The Speaker has directed the House Committee to submit its report within a period of three months.
The Excelsior had in its edition dated 21st May reported that the JSC on Kashmiri Hindus Shrines Bill and House Committee on irregularities in sanction of Health Institutions (Sub Health Centres) hadn’t been constituted despite announcement by the Speaker on the floor of the House more than two and a half months back, thus, rendering the very purpose of the announcement irrelevant.
The Committees had tough task ahead as they had to complete their reports in next about two and a half months as last session of the Assembly could take place anytime in August. If the Committees failed to submit their report to the Assembly during the last session, the bill on Kashmiri Hindu Shrines would lapse. Similar would be the fate of probe by a House panel into sanction of Health Institutions if the Committee didn’t submit its report in time.
Meanwhile, the Speaker has also constituted Committee on Privileges, which would be headed by former Minister and NC MLA Abdul Ghani Malik and comprised Javed Ahmad Dar, Nasir Aslam Wani and Peer Afaq Ahmad of NC, Shabir Ahmad Khan and Indu Pawar of Congress, Rafi Ahmad Mir and Dr Shafi Ahmad Wani of PDP and Ashwani Sharma (JSM).
The Speaker today also constituted various other Committees including Committee for General Purposes headed by Gul himself, Ethics Committee headed by PDP MLA Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, Library Committee headed by Gul himself, Committee on Public Accounts headed by PDP MLA Abdul Haq Khan, Committee on Public Undertakings headed by Congress MLA Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Committee on Estimates headed by NC MLA Surjit Singh Slathia, Committee on petitions headed by BJP MLA Ashok Khajuria, Committee on Subordinate Legislation headed by Congress MLA Mohammad Sharief Niaz, Committee on Environment headed by NC MLA Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Rules Committee headed by Gul himself and Committee on Government Assurances headed by NC MLA Peer Afaq Ahmad.

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