Karnataka

Assembly adjourned sine die, but Council has one more day of business

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The Legislative Assembly was adjourned sine die on Monday by Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa amid dharna by the BJP members. The present session, which was one of the longest ones in recent times, had commenced on June 23.

In the last 27 days of its sitting, the House transacted business for 171 hours.

Debates aplenty
This session also marked the resumption of department-wise debates after a gap of nearly 15 years.

With the re-introduction of such a system, the debates had become more focussed, besides touching upon micro-aspects.

In response to this, the reply by most of the Ministers were elaborative and lasted for four to six hours.

In the Council
However, the Council will transact business for one more day because of a technical glitch in tabling the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which was passed in the Lower House.

It was smooth sailing for the Congress on Monday as all the important Bills were passed with no debate, thanks to the dharna by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the Legislative Council. However, for technical reasons, Minister for Revenue could not table the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2014 “in time”, which facilitated the Opposition to score over the Congress.

Expressing his intention to adjourn the House sine die, Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy appealed to the BJP to withdraw its dharna. After the BJP members resumed their seats, Mr. Shankaramurthy spoke on the number of questions answered, Bills passed, papers tabled and issues raised.

Appeal
Even as Mr. Shankaramurthy concluded, Minister for Revenue V. Srinivas Prasad appealed to the chairman to allow him to table the Karnataka Land Revenue (Amendment) Bill, 2014, noting that it is necessary to amend the Act to dispose of pending applications which add up to about 28,824 (Form 50 applications) and 3,74,580 (Form 53) applications. The amendment was sought to extend the time limit for the farmers to submit their applications to get ownership of the land under bagair hukum scheme for two years, as the present deadline is August-end.

However, Leader of the Opposition K.S. Eshwarappa did not allow Mr. Srinivas Prasad to table the Bill, raising technical questions.

Exchange of words
Though, the Minister pleaded for safe passage of the Bill in the interests of farmers, the Opposition leader did not budge. This resulted in an exchange of words between the Congress and the Opposition party members. Mr. Eshwarappa said that he is equally concerned about the farmers and appealed the chairman to continue the session for one more day to uphold the tradition of the House. Finally, Mr. Shankaramurthy ruled that the house will meet on Wednesday.
(The Hindu)

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