Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala will address the joint session of the state legislature commencing on February 5, State Legislative Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy said on Friday.
“Both the houses (Assembly and Council) will hold proceedings from February 5 to February 9 while the budget session will be held from February 16 to February 28,” Shankaramurthy said.
Raising some concerns over the failure in conducting the legislative sessions for 60 days in a year, Shankarmurthy lamented that only 40 days of session was held last year, when it was required to hold 60 days in a year as per the resolution passed in 2005. “The legislative session was held for 60 days in only one year that is in 2015. My appeal to the government is to facilitate 60 days of legislative session every year to discuss about the development and welfare schemes,’’ he said.
During his 8-year tenure as Council Chairman, Shankarmurthy said only 16 bills were passed after a detailed discussion, while 100 bills were passed without detailed discussion. “I sent back two bills to the government seeking some clarifications. In Belagavi session, the government tabled three bills on the penultimate day of the session. I will allow a detailed discussion on these bills,’’ he said.
The chairman said that provisions have been made for submitting questions online by the Members of Legislative Council. “So far, 20 questions are received online. I hope more members to submit their queries online. We are trying to become paperless Council in the near future. Himachal Pradesh Assembly has become paperless while Maharashtra and Rajasthan Assemblies are set to become paperless shortly,’’ he said.
