Srinagar, Sep 15: The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is set to begin its autumn session on September 21 with legislators having submitted around 650 questions, 16–17 Private Member Bills and nearly 50 resolutions, setting up a packed legislative agenda for the House.
The Assembly Secretariat has received around 650 questions from members for the session, with each MLA permitted to submit four starred and four unstarred questions. The session is scheduled to run from September 21 to September 30.
The volume of questions is accompanied by a sizeable number of Private Member initiatives. Legislators from both treasury and opposition benches have submitted 16–17 Private Member Bills, while around 50 Private Member Resolutions have also been received by the Secretariat.
Under the Assembly procedure, however, only seven of the submitted resolutions will be selected through draw of lots for introduction in the House, subject to scrutiny for admissibility under the Rules. The remaining resolutions will not reach the House for introduction during the session.
The question quota for the session had earlier generated a dispute after Peoples Conference legislator Sajad Gani Lone objected to the Secretariat allowing members to submit eight questions instead of the quota provided under Rule 45 for a non-Budget session.
Rule 45 provides for five starred and five unstarred questions for each member during a non-Budget session, while the Secretariat bulletin for the upcoming session permitted four starred and four unstarred questions. Lone had urged Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather to review the decision.
The Assembly’s official National e-Vidhan portal lists the September sitting as the sixth session of the J&K Legislative Assembly and carries the provisional calendar and notices issued for the autumn session.
The number of questions and private members’ initiatives is likely to place considerable demand on the House’s available time, particularly for Private Member Bills and resolutions, which have limited opportunities for discussion during a session.
The autumn session will therefore bring not only government business but also a substantial volume of issues submitted by individual legislators for discussion and response from the administration. [KNT]
