New Delhi: A parliamentary committee has endorsed the idea of a setting up a Legislative Council in Assam. The Standing Committee on Law and Personnel said in its latest report that it supports the proposal of the central government to create a second chamber in Assam in “larger public interest”.
But at the same time, the committee has also recommended that the Centre should evolve a national policy for upper house in state legislatures so that once established, it could not be abolished by the incumbent government. The committee made the recommendations while tabling its report in Parliament on the Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013 referred to it. Assam had an Upper House which was abolished after Independence.
According to the Bill, the Legislative Council will have 42 members. As per Article 171 of the Constitution, the total number of members in the Council of a state having such a House shall not exceed one third of the total number of members in the legislative assembly of that state. In the case of Assam, the total number of MLAs is 126.
Political parties and groups believe that members of various communities and ethnic, groups which could not be sent to the assembly, can be accommodated in the Council for a fair representation.
The bill seeks to amend Article 168 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act to set up a second chamber in Assam. Recently, the Committee had also endorsed a bill which seeks to create a Legislative Council in Rajasthan. (PTI)