Syiem flays State govt over House session delay

SHILLONG: The chief executive member of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, PN Syiem has criticised the government for not holding the Assembly session on time.
Though the session should have been scheduled by September within six months after the last normal Budget session held in March-April, the government sources had cited the special session held in June to postpone the next session.
If the government counts June, it will get time till December to hold the next session.
In his response, Syiem said on Sunday that the special session of the Assembly held in June should not be equated with the normal session of the House indicating that the one day June session should not be counted by the government.
Syiem said the Assembly session would have to be held on time.
Another sitting of the Assembly should be held within six months. The next session was to be held in September after the full fledged budget session was convened in March-April, he said.
“Where are the rights of the MLAs as they have to place questions, move resolutions and address different issues in the Assembly?” he added.
Dual post
In the context of several MDCs planning to contest the Assembly polls, Syiem asserted that the Prevention of Disqualification (Member of Legislative Assembly Meghalaya) Amendment Bill, 2015, which barred legislators from simultaneously holding the post of members of the autonomous district councils passed by the government, was a wasted effort.
According to him, MDCs could seek to be MLAs as “Article 191 cannot apply in the KHADC as far as office of profit is concerned.”
Article 191 of the Indian Constitution states that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a state, if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the government of any state specified in the First Schedule, other than an office declared by the Legislature of the State by law not to disqualify its holder.
Need for policy makers
Syiem has underlined the need to have legislators who would focus on the legislation, policy making and look at reviving the financial condition of the state, which will bring a difference in the state vis-à-vis money power.
“The state has come down financially. You can ask the people in the market and they will say that the market is very down,” he said.
“We need legislators and not investors and we need people who will go for state specific policy and not for personal policy,” he asserted.