Fix time-bound clearance of bills: Telangana to law panel

HYDERABAD: With several bills passed by the assembly awaiting governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s assent for the past two months, Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar has urged Law Commission of India chairman Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi to recommend amendment of Article 200 of the Constitution for a time-bound clearance of bills.
In a letter to Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Vinod said the word ‘as soon as possible’ be replaced with ‘within 30 days’ to give assent or reject bills by the governors after the bills sent by the state government to bring accountability in the system at the highest level.

The letter assumes significance as the TRS government has alleged that governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was sitting on the bills, including the Common Recruitment Board Bill.
“The assemblies of Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have enacted several important bills and sent them to their respective state governors for assent. But the governors are unduly delaying to act upon the bills passed by the state legislatures. This attitude of the constitutional head is causing irreparable loss to the people of the nation. What is stopping the governors to either accept or reject a bill?” the planning body vice-chairman said.
The former Karimnagar MP said the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill 2022 was submitted to the governor. “This bill, if cleared, will generate more than 1,000 jobs for assistant professors in Telangana. I am confident that many other states have tabled such bills that are lying at the apathy of their respective governors, ” Vinod said.