Srinagar: Under attack from the Opposition BJP on the short Autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Wednesday asserted that the union territory has the highest average sitting per year among all states and union territories in the country.
He was reacting to BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma’s accusation that the government kept the forthcoming Assembly session short as it was not serious about addressing people’s issues.
“The Leader of Opposition should introspect before making statements like that. Jammu and Kashmir has an average of 28 sittings per year against the national average of just 24,” Rather told mediapersons during an interaction ahead of the Autumn session of the assembly.
The Autumn Session of the J-K Assembly is scheduled to be held in Srinagar from September 21 to September 30.
Sharma had on Tuesday called for a month-long session of the assembly so that the people’s issues can be raised in the House.
“Unfortunately, the government of Jammu and Kashmir has almost completely lost its legislative accountability. The Assembly has effectively been reduced to a joke,” Sharma said at a presser at the party headquarters in Jammu.
The Speaker said the Autumn session in Jammu and Kashmir has usually been short but stressed that sessions are even shorter in BJP-ruled state assemblies.
“Assam had a one-day session, Rajasthan had a two-day session, and Gujarat, Delhi and Goa had three-day sessions, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had five-day sessions. These are all BJP ruled states. So the LoP should introspect before calling the assembly session a joke,” Rather said that, even during the years when the BJP ruled Jammu and Kashmir in a coalition with the PDP, the autumn session was short.
“In 2015, the autumn session was from October 4 to October 10 while in 2017, it was help in July for only four days,” he added.
The speaker also appealed to the media to focus less on MLAs creating pandemonium in the house as this will help the session run smoothly.
“The Presiding Officers will certainly try to bring them under control – that is indeed their responsibility. However, your responsibility is even greater. These people who create uproar, who take the law into their own hands, and who show no respect for the rules — please write less about them,” he said.
Rather asked the journalists to focus on the quality of speeches of the members and and legislative performance.
“Give more coverage to whichever member delivers a good performance. That will help us conduct the House in a civilised and orderly manner; it will truly assist us. A member ought to feel that if they respect the rules, the Constitution, and the law, they will receive more coverage. This impression, this message, should reach all honourable members or even a minister,” he added.
Rather lamented that his observations on the matter have been the opposite.
“I have seen the reverse in many places. Generally, it is seen that those who create a ruckus receive the most coverage. The consequence of this is that the number of rabble-rousers continues to grow day by day. When new members arrive, they perceive that creating noise and shouting slogans here will land their names in the newspaper headlines,” he added.
