Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur, BJP MLAs protest outside the assembly during the winter session in Tapovan, Dharamsala on Thursday, December 19, 2024. Photo credit: PTI
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly held its first Zero Hour on Friday (December 20, 2024) during which 7 MLAs raised issues of public concern.
Congress MLA from Lahaul and Spiti, Anuradha Rana was the first MLA to raise the issue in the state assembly during the zero hour which took place between 12:00 to 12:30 pm.
He talked about two toll tax hurdles in his constituency.
Issues raised at zero time
Other MPs who raised zero-hour issues were BJP MLAs Janak Raj, Sukhram Chaudhary and Trilok Jamwal, as well as Congress MLAs Keval Singh Pathania, Sanjay Ratan and Hardeep Singh Baba.
They talked about various issues like burying of water canals due to construction of NHAI in Shahpur, cloud bursting, construction of freedom fighter memorial, criteria for formation of new gram panchayats, bottling plant affecting water schemes.
Zero hour allows MLAs to raise issues of public interest and if they want to participate, they must inform the assembly secretary at least 90 minutes before the start of the session, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said.
The initiative was also lauded by Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, who requested members for guidance, while Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi called it a milestone in the state’s legislative history and asked members to use the platform effectively.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri congratulated the Speaker for introducing Neva (National e-legislation application) and zero hours in the winter session.
The four-day winter session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly began on Wednesday at the Tapovan complex in Dharamsala.
On the first two days of the winter session, the question-and-answer and zero-hour meetings could not be held on the first two days of today’s winter session due to the discussion on corruption in accordance with the adjournment motion brought by the opposition party in Rule 67.
published – Dec 20, 2024 04:32 pm IST