Home Dehradun Uproar in Assembly over Development Authorities

Uproar in Assembly over Development Authorities

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By Arun Pratap Singh

Dehradun, 16 Jun: The third day of the Uttarakhand Assembly session witnessed uproar by the Opposition members over the district development authorities. As soon as the discussion on District Development Authorities started after being allowed by Speaker on the admissibility of the notice under Rule 58 of the Assembly Proceedings rules, the opposition created uproar on the issue. In fact, Congress MLA Anupama Rawat, who is daughter of former CM Harish Rawat, and Sumit Hridayesh, who is son of the late Indira Hridayesh, had a scuffle with the Marshals when they rushed into the Well of the House. Despite repeated appeals by Speaker Ritu Khanduri they were not willing to take their seats. Several other members of Congress were also present in the Well during the ruckus. Ultimately, the agenda was rushed through and the House adjourned till 11 a.m. tomorrow. The Opposition members were adamant and persistent with their demand for abolishing the District Level Development Authorities in the state.

Earlier, the Congress members were also critical during the discussion on the budget that had been tabled on Tuesday, the first day of the session.

During the discussion on admissibility under Rule 58 of notice regarding district development authorities, apart from the uproar, the Opposition members also tore the copies of the budget. Anupama Rawat and Sumit Hridayesh had a scuffle with the marshals. The opposition did not sit still despite the Speaker’s repeated requests. The opposition alleged that the district development authorities set up by the government had become a den of corruption.

Today was also the second day of discussion on the budget. While the Treasury Members praised the budget and described it as historic, the opposition members severely criticised the budget claiming that it had nothing to ensure development or towards providing employment. It may be recalled that, on the first day of the assembly session, the Dhami government had presented a budget of Rs 65,571.49 crore. The discussion on the budget took place on the second day of the Uttarakhand Assembly session. Also, during Question Hour on the second day of the budget session, cabinet ministers Premchand Agarwal and Chandan Ramdas were bombarded by questions from the opposition. The Opposition members alleged that instead of answering questions, the ministers were wasting the time of the House by arguing. Instead of giving a straight answer, things were being twisted.

Meanwhile, today, the Congress MLAs also sat on a dharna in the House demanding the abolition of the District Level Development Authorities. The Congress MLAs were adamant on their demand when the Speaker said that they ought to first end the dharna. The MLAs got up from the dharna, but soon enough again rushed to the Well and started their dharna again. This led to adjournments and halting of proceedings for a while.

Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister Premchand Aggarwal, responding to the questions of the opposition, claimed that the money earned by the authorities was used for infrastructure related works in that area. There was no requirement of map approval in the areas under the jurisdiction of the District Level Development Authority after 2016. This relief had been given on the basis of the report of the Cabinet Sub-Committee. It was decided that if residents of the new areas joining the Development Authority after 2016 might wish to get the map approvals done voluntarily, they would be allowed to do so, but there would be no compulsion. The Cabinet had decided that the new District Level Development Authorities created after 2016 would be suspended except the Development Authorities that had been created prior to 2016.

Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislative Party, Bhuvan Kapri questioned the very need for the existence of the development authorities. He reminded that earlier the maps were approved by the municipal bodies and town panchayats but since the work had been handed over to the development authorities, they started charging huge amounts of money for map approvals and also indulged in corruption. He sought to know what facilities the development authorities were giving to the public in return. The district level development authority was an absurd decision, it only meant undue recovery from the poor.

Today, three Acts were also tabled in the House related to Fires Services (Amendment), Zamindari Abolition Act (Amendment) and an Act in respect of Single Window clearance in Industry.