Speaker warns of hard decisions to strengthen House functioning

Rather adjourns Assembly sine die

Excelsior Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Sept 30: The Legislative Assembly's autumn session was adjourned sine die today with Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather warning that he would take "hard decisions" to strengthen the functioning and authority of the House.

The seven-sitting session, which began on September 21, accounted for 25 hours of business, with the House passing six Government Bills and taking up only 31 of the 646 starred and unstarred questions received.

While summing up the proceedings, Rather said eight Government Bills were received and all were introduced in the House. Of these, six were passed and two withdrawn.

On questions, Rather said 646 starred and unstarred questions were received, comprising 328 starred and 318 unstarred.

A total of 625 were listed, while 20 were disallowed and one withdrawn. The 31 questions taken up on the floor generated 57 supplementary questions.

The House also received 79 Calling Attention Notices, of which 56 were admitted and 23 disallowed, while 30 were listed.

Two Government resolutions were received and both were adopted-one moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and another by Minister Sakeena Itoo.

On Private Members' business, Rather said 49 Bills were already pending, while 23 new Bills were received during the session. Of these, 22 were admitted and one disallowed.

The House received 70 Private Members' resolutions, of which 63 were admitted and seven disallowed. Seven were balloted and listed, while one was taken up and none adopted.

The House also held a brief discussion on the report of the House Committee on alleged irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The issue of the shortage and unavailability of essential construction material in J&K also remained part of the pending business, though it was discussed briefly on the final day.

Rather said the House had made every effort to utilise the limited time available despite protests and disruptions.

"I allowed members to raise their questions and participate even when the House was not fully in order, because I did not want their issues to remain unheard," he said.

In his concluding address, Rather urged ministers not to take criticism personally and asked elected representatives to remain focused on resolving public grievances.

Rather also raised concerns over the functioning of the Assembly Secretariat, saying it was operating with around 50 per cent of its sanctioned staff strength.

He said promotions and allowances for employees had been addressed, but finalisation of recruitment rules under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act remained pending approval from the Lieutenant Governor in consultation with the Speaker.

He expressed concern over delays in moving the file through the Parliamentary Affairs Department.

"I will have to see who is responsible for these delays. I will have to take some hard decisions to strengthen the honour of this House. There will be some casualties in this regard, but I will ensure that they come back on the right track," Rather said.

"If we fail to strengthen the honour of this House now, it will never happen," he added.

Rather commended the Secretariat staff for working additional shifts despite the shortage, saying their efforts had helped ensure the smooth conduct of proceedings.

On the no-confidence motion submitted against him by the BJP, Rather said he viewed it as an opportunity for introspection and feedback. "I welcome the motion. It gives me an opportunity to know where I need to improve," he said.

Rather also praised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for personally preparing replies and actively participating in the proceedings.

Opposition MLA Pawan Kumar Gupta called for extended Assembly sessions, citing recommendations of the Venkatachaliah Commission.

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Chowdhary said members from both sides had actively raised public issues and that the Government had given assurances and issued directions to officers to address concerns raised by MLAs.

CPI(M) MLA M.Y. Tarigami stressed mutual consultation and collective responsibility in meeting public expectations across communities and regions.

MLA Iftikhar Ahmad described the session as a "festival of democracy", saying the Assembly provided a forum for public issues to be debated and addressed.

MLA Muntazir Mehdi thanked Rather for accommodating smaller parties and first-time members, while MLA Tanvir Sadiq reiterated support for staff regularisation, job security and social welfare measures.