Amid stormy session, house passes 14 amendment bills out of 22

GAIRSAIN (CHAMOLI): The new legislative assembly of Uttarakhand in Gairsain witnessed uproarious scenes on Thursday after the opposition asked the Harish Rawat-led Congress government to clarify whether Gairsain was being declared as the state’s permanent capital or the summer capital. BJP MLAs led by leader of opposition Ajay Bhatt stormed into the well of the house to protest against the treasury bench for keeping them in dark about the Gairsain issue.
In his reply, chief minister Harish Rawat said that construction of a Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain was a big step towards “revival of an emotive issue” which had been buried under the carpet by previous BJP governments.
The BJP MLAs also raised anti-government slogans followed by a walkout during pre-lunch hours on day one of the two-day session. After the ruckus by opposition, the speaker adjourned the house till 3pm. However, BJP members again launched a vigorous attack on the treasury bench post lunch and walked out of the house.
The state government is developing Gairsain, about 250 km away from Dehradun, as Uttarakhand capital. The construction of the new Vidhan Sabha Bhawan had also courted controversy earlier when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had issued notices to the Union ministry of environment and forests and the Uttarakhand government on a plea seeking stay on the construction of the legislative assembly building at Gairsain on the ground that the project lacks mandatory clearances.
Amidst the stormy session, state parliamentary affairs minister Indira Hridyesh tabled as many as 22 amendment bills in the house, including the two bills that were returned by governor K K Paul recently. The two bills pertained to the formation of Ras Bihari Bose Subharti Vishwabharti University and Himalyan Garhwal University.
While 14 amendment bills out of 22 were passed in the house based on voice votes, 6 others are expected to be cleared on Friday. Among the bills passed, the significant ones include Uttarakhand Madras education council 2016 amendment bill, Sardar Bhagwan Singh Vishwavidyalaya Uttarakhand bill 2016, Bhagwant Global Vishwavidyalaya bill 2016, Uttarakhand Zila Yojna Samiti amendment bill 2016, Uttarakhand zamindari abolition and land management amendment bill 2016, Uttarakhand Graphic Era Parvitya Vishwavidyaya amendment bill 2016, Guru Ram Rai Vishwavidyalaya bill 2016 and Uttarakhand medical service selection board amendment bill 2016.
Hridyesh also tabled the supplementary budget of Rs 1507.87 crore in the house to meet state government’s urgent expenditure for the remaining months of current financial year, which ends in March 2017. The budget is expected to be passed on the second day of the session.
Giving details on the supplementary budget, state parliamentary affairs minister informed the house that while an amount of Rs 1105.07 crore was allocated for planning expenditure, an amount of Rs 663.51 crore was approved for establishment of upcoming Jagar University in Uttarakhand.
Meanwhile, leader of treasury bench and chief minister Harish Rawat adopted a resolution urging central government to grant Bharat Ratna to famous freedom fighter Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali. The resolution was passed by the house before being sent to central government. The house also adopted two other resolutions which were passed by the house. These resolutions were setting up of Sainik School at Pheetsain in Uttarakhand and developing an international research centre to pursue studies on Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha-related affairs within the premises of Vidhan Sabha Bhawan in Gairsain.
The opposition BJP said that it will boycott the assembly session on Friday over the state capital issue. In a press conference Ajay Bhatt said that the state government does not require an opposition in Uttarakhand.