New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan showered praises on Shillong MP Vincent H Pala on Wednesday for persistently raising the issues of amendment to the Sixth Schedule to further the tribal people giving them right over their land and minerals and strengthening of the autonomous district councils.
Delivering the concluding speech on the last day of the Budget session, the Speaker made a laudatory remark on the Shillong MP for his repeated legislative efforts of amending the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution that intends to expand the powers of the District and Regional Councils in Meghalaya and other Sixth Schedule states. This would also empower the tribals as regards their political and economic rights especially the mining rights.
Speaker’s unexpected praise of a Congress MP on the last day of the longest session created a flutter since she had to chide several Congress MPs who tried to disrupt the proceedings on different occasions during the session. Originally introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2015, the Bill is on the Parliamentary slate. Out of 543 members, Pala’s Bill was picked in the ballot and put on priority for consideration of the House.
For four consecutive sessions since August 2016, the Bill, namely, the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2015 has been under deliberation of Lok Sabha with a large number of MPs taking part in the debate.
This wide attention the Bill received in Lok Sabha for four sessions so far, with the Bill still having the chance of witnessing further debate in the House in the coming sessions, is considered a legislative success.
When contacted, Pala said that he is determined to move the House, the Government and the President of India on this vital issue.