L-G hasn’t replied to my letter on reserved subjects, says Speaker
NEW DELHI: Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Thursday said lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal had not responded to his March 27 letter seeking details of the communication from the union law ministry barring him from taking questions from MLAS on “reserved subjects”.
The Centre’s communication to the Assembly had come through the L-G’S office in a letter dated March 19.
Goel and other Aam Aadmi Party MLAS had expressed their “displeasure” over the order and called it “unfair”.
In a letter to the L-G office dated March 27, the deputy secretary of the Delhi Assembly wrote: “… Speaker has desired that the copies of the communication (in connection with not taking questions on reserved subjects), including the advice sought and the comments received to be sent to the undersigned at the earliest. The speaker is of the opinion that ideally there ought to be no reservations in sharing these documents in the interest of democracy and transparency.”
Addressing the media, Goel alleged that there was no response from the L-G’S office to his communication.
Goel said that on the directions of the L-G office, replies to 36 questions (11 starred and 25 unstarred) were not provided by some departments on the pretext of them being ‘reserved’ subjects. These have been referred to the Questions and Reference Committee and the Committee of Privileges.
“This is an attempt to hinder the freedom of the legislative and it should be dealt with strictly. It never happened in the history of the Delhi Assembly that any member would not ask questions on reserved subjects like vigilance, land (DDA) or law and order,” Goel said.
He asked if a question can be answered through RTI then why can’t an elected member’s question be answered.
“Should a question not be asked if any officer is involved in corruption? The way L-G has patronised officers is strongly objectionable. It is murder of the democracy,” he alleged.
The L-G’S office did not respond to texts and calls seeking a response on Goel’s allegations.
Giving an account of the business of the budget session of the Assembly, Goel said 69 starred questions and 138 supplementary questions were asked and replied to in the House.
A government resolution regarding ‘restructuring of DASS and steno cadre’ was adopted by voice-vote while eight other resolutions on different topics were also adopted by the Assembly.
He said that two committees -“House Committee on Violation of Protocol Norms and Contemptuous Behaviour by Government Officers with MLAS” and the committee to take up the matter of salaries and allowances of ministers/mlas with the central government — were formed in the budget session.
Metro’s integration with RRTS will help commuters who travel to Delhi everyday from NCR cities... This will also help in decongesting our highways, which connect Delhi with these nearby cities. This is an attempt to hinder the freedom of the legislative and it should be dealt with strictly. It never happened in the history of the Delhi Assembly that any member would not ask questions on reserved subjects. RAM NIWAS GOEL, Delhi Assembly Speaker