JOIN US10-day session enough to discuss all Bills: Madhuswamy
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy tells Akram Mohammed of DH that the 10-day session is adequate to discuss all key Bills being tabled in the legislature. Excerpts from an interview
One of the key issues in the upcoming session is the 32 Bills being tabled in the Assembly. Is the time sufficient to discuss all of them?
Of the Bills, only four to five are expected to have a long debate. Others are routine Bills and can be passed easily. For the Bills that require to be discussed, we have provided adequate time and the 10-day session is enough to discuss them. Our main problem is that we have promulgated ordinances, which have to be placed as Bills. Such Bills are 18 in number, which includes Land Reforms, APMC amendment, and others.
The Opposition has demanded the government to extend the duration of the session, as there were several issues to be raised in the Assembly.
Tomorrow (Monday), the Business Advisory Committee meeting will be held in which the Covid-19 pandemic, Rajya Sabha concluding early, etc., will be discussed. We will try to convince the Opposition to consider these factors (before pushing for an extension). If they still insist, we will consider and make a decision.
With the pandemic, how will the session be organised? What precautions are in place?
There will be a vacant seat between all MLAs and transparent sheets are fixed for seats. The members will be provided with face shields and masks. Gaps have been provided for seats for ministers also. There are 269 seats in the Legislative Assembly and we expect 30-40 members to be absent. We have allotted new seat numbers to the MLAs, and they will be seated as per social distancing norms.
Do you expect large number of MLAs to be absent due to the pandemic?
No, we are not expecting them to be absent. But I am told that some have tested positive for Covid-19. We have already tested all MLAs and if somebody is positive they cannot attend Assembly proceedings and will abstain. According to our estimates, a minimum of 20-30 legislators will be absent.
There are allegations that the drug racket is a diversionary tactic to hide the failures of the government during the Covid-19 pandemic, flood relief, and other issues.
The drug racket case was not initiated in Karnataka. It is from outside. When they informed us that Karnataka is a hub of such rackets and peddlers, we came into the picture and started investigations. The cases came from Mumbai. We don't want to divert the issues with such things.