Performance audit of MLAs to dominate assembly session

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The second session of the 13th Kerala assembly will commence on Monday. It will pass the first budget presented by the Congress-led United Democratic Government (UDF).
The voting for the financial bill will be held on November 2, and the session will conclude on November 3.
The 25-day session is special in that it will witness for the first time a performance audit of legislators."From this session, the people will be able to know the performance of their MLAs through website," said speaker G Karthikeyan.
The details about each MLA such the number of questions he had asked, the submissions he had presented on how many topics
, his participation in debates and others will be posted on the website of the Kerala assembly after each session. He said it was also being planned to launch a Niyamasabha TV on the lines of the LokSabha television.
The speaker added that the live webcasting of proceedings in the house would begin with the next session. Rs 5.42 crore has been sanctioned for the purpose, and high-end cameras and sophisticated tools will be installed in the House. "In the first phase, it is being planned to webcast the question hour," said the speaker.
The questions, both starred and unstarred, will be put on the website well in advance. The answers will be uploaded on the website on a daily basis, he added.
The security inside the assembly complex and the MLAs' hostel has been tightened so that no one will be allowed to enter the premises without valid passes.
All ministers have been asked to impose restrictions on their visitors inside the assembly complex, Karthikeyan said.
However, the speaker did not comment on the office of profit issue raised against opposition leader V S Achuthanandan and government chief whip P C George.
He said that he was not prepared to speak about the issues as he was holding the post of speaker. "The complaint has been forwarded to the Governor. Hence I am not ready to give any comment," Karthikeyan said.