Speaker seeks replies to MLAs’ letters

Bhopal: Speaker Girish Gautam on Wednesday told education minister Inder Singh Parmar to ensure that ministers instruct all government departments to reply to letters of legislators. The matter came up in the question hour when Congress MLA Ramchandra Dangi said that he had written many letters to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan related to his constituency but did not get even a single reply.“I have written several letters to the chief minister regarding Biaora assembly constituency. I wrote for the development of school in Biaora, primary health centre in Aamjat, besides construction of roads,” he said. He said that he wrote a series of letters for a primary health centreand protection of Ajnar river, a road for the model school, besides setting-up of an agriculture college and several letters for treatment of poor patients.Replying to him, minister for education Inder Singh Parmar said that the MLA wrote 13 letters to chief minister, all of which were sent to the GAD department. Since the letters relate to works of different departments, the papers have been forwarded to the departments concerned.But Ramchandra Dangi said that not a single department has sent a reply to him and none of the works he had asked for have been done.LOP Dr Govind Singh told the Speaker that it has been tradition of Union and state governments that if an MLA wrote to Prime Minister, chief minister or ministers, then a reply was sent. In Madhya Pradesh, he said it was tradition in 1990 when he first became an MLA. “But now, that tradition is coming to an end. No one replies to letters of MLAs anymore,” the LOP said.He said that there is no rule of law that says that replies will have to be given, but it was a tradition. The LOP said that in the Union government, it is only minister for road transport and highways who replies to letters of MLAs from the state. Thereafter, Speaker Gautam told Inder Singh Parmer that all ministers should ensure that replies are given to the letters of legislators. “Ministers must ensure that replies are given and inform what efforts are being made regarding the works sought by the MLAs,” he said.TNN
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