Hindustan Times: Chandigarh: Saturday, August 25, 2018.
With the
fourth assembly session of the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government set
to begin on Friday, it has emerged that 22 legislators, including Shiromani
Akali Dal leaders and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son
Sukhbir Singh Badal besides 20 Congress MLAs, have yet to raise a question in
the House since it was constituted in March 2017.
Data
collected under the right to information (RTI) Act shows that the SAD’s Badals
and Congress legislators OP Soni, who is now a minister, Amreek Singh Dhillon,
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Arun Dogra, Inderbir Bolaria, Sushil Kumar Rinku,
Sukhjeet Singh, Sukhbinder Sarkaria (now minister), Sanjeev Talwar, Sham Sundar
Arora (now minister), Sunil Datti, Chaudhary Surinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh
Danny Bandala, Khushaldeep Singh Kikki Dhillon, Gurpreet Singh, Pargat Singh,
Preetam Kotbhai, Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa, Raj Kumar Verka, and Ramanjeet Singh
Sahota Sikki did not ask a single question in all three earlier sessions.
Barring
ministers, all members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) are entitled to pose
queries during question hour at the start of the day’s proceedings in the
assembly.
Yet 35 MLAs
didn’t ask a single question in the first session, while 72 remained silent in
the second session and 39 stayed mum in the last session.
Of the two
parties in the opposition, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has a better tally in
raising issues as compared to the SAD. In the first session, all AAP MLAs
except HS Phoolka asked questions. In second session, nine AAP MLAs did not
raise any question. Lok Insaaf party leader Simranjeet Singh Bains has asked
only 7 questions in three sessions.
When asked
why he had yet to raise a query during question hour, Jandiala MLA Bandala
said, “I’ve given speeches in the first and second sessions and covered burning
issues. I’m lucky I was among the few the party considered fit for this job. I
ask relevant questions and take part in discussions. But it is not fair to
judge an MLA on the basis of number of questions he or she asks in the House.”
Kultar
Sandhwan had most queries
The data
shows Kultar Singh Sandhwan, a first time AAP MLA from Kotkapura, asked the
maximum number of 107 questions in the three sessions.
“Whenever I
meet workers, I enquire about their concerns and grievances. I make it a point
to raise them in the session. Though I’m ready with 65 questions in the fourth
session, I’m not satisfied with the work in the assembly as I feel there has
not been sufficient follow-up. People have elected us to raise their issues and
everyone should do this,” he says.
He is not
satisfied with the three-day session convened. “The government is trying to defend
itself by holding such a short session. The party has given me the duty to
raise the issue of the Bargari sacrilege,” he adds.
Jaitu
legislator Baldev Singh, who is second in terms of the number of questions
asked in the House, says, “We don’t get enough time to ask questions. It is
unfortunate that the government has further reduced the duration of the
session. I will also raise the Bargari sacrilege issue as the village is in my
constituency.”
Cheema
scores over Khaira
The newly
appointed leader of opposition, Harpal Singh Cheema of the AAP, surpasses his
predecessor and rebel AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira in terms of the number of
questions asked. Cheema asked 69 questions in the past three sessions as
compared to Khaira’s total of 32 questions.
Legislators
can ask two types of questions in the assembly: Starredand unstarred. Answers
to starred questions are given orally, while written answers have to be
provided by the minister concerned for unstarred ones.
Data shows
that most legislators prefer to ask starred questions.
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