The Haryana Vidhan Sabha’s upcoming sessions will now be held from 11 am till 6 pm with a one-hour lunch break for the members of the House. The new Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Haryana Legislative Assembly were notified on August 17, under the orders of Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta.
“Rule 15(2) may be substituted as under:- “Unless the Speaker otherwise directs, sitting of the House on any day shall ordinarily commence 11:00 A.M, and conclude at 6:00 P.M. with a lunch break for one hour which may ordinarily be from 1:00 P.M. to 2.00 P.M.,” the notification reads.
The same timing schedules were also observed in the recent monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha that concluded on August 10. On the last day of the session, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is also leader of the House, had also mentioned that from now on, each MLA can now ask three questions every month from any department of the government and replies shall be furnished to him/her by the department concerned.
Earlier, the questions were being asked on the floor of the House during the Vidhan Sabha’s sessions. Also, the session used to begin at 10 am and then proceedings used to be carried out till 2 pm in the first sitting followed by an hour-long lunch break and till the time specified by the Speaker during the second sitting. Generally, the session used to commence at 2 pm in its first sitting, on the first day, which now has been changed to 11 am.
Certain provisions regarding standing committees have also been included in the recently notified rules. The provisions refer to the composition of the committee, the chairperson of the committee, the term of office of the committee members etc.
The notification says that under Rule 190 (B), each standing committee should not consist of more than 12 members to be nominated by the Speaker from amongst the members of the Assembly, the chairperson shall be appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members of the committee and the term of office of the committee members will be one year.
Under 190 (C), the notification says the function of each standing committee shall be to consider the demands for grants of the departments concerned and make a report on the same to the House. “The report shall not suggest any thing of the nature of cut-motions: to consider annual report(s) of departments, if any, and make reports thereon; to consider basic long term policy documents of the state government or other important matter presented to the House when referred to the committee by the Speaker, and make report(s) thereon; and the standing committee shall not consider the matters of day to-day administration of the concerned departments,” the notification reads.
It adds that each of the functions of these committees will be applicable to the committee from the date as may be notified by the Speaker in respect of applicability of a particular function. “The following procedure shall be followed by each of the standing committees in their consideration of the demands for grants and making a report thereon to the House. After the general discussion on the Budget in the House is over, the House shall be adjourned for a fixed period as determined by the House or the Speaker, as the case may be: the committee shall consider the demands for grants of the concerned departments during the aforesaid period; the committee shall make their report within the period and shall not ask for more time; the demands for grants shall be considered by the House in the light of the reports of the committee; and there shall be a separate report on the demands for grants of each department,” the notification further says.
Regarding the standing committees’ reports, the new notification says that they shall be based on broad consensus. “A member of the standing committee may give note of dissent on the reports of the committee(s). The note of dissent shall be presented to the House along with the report(s); except for matters for which special provision is made in the rules relating to the standing committees, the general rules applicable to other legislative committees shall apply to the standing committees as specified in schedule 1A,” the notification adds.
It says that the standing committees shall not work in any other place “except the precincts of Assembly unless otherwise specifically permitted by the Speaker”. “The committees may avail expert opinion to make the report(s). The standing committees shall not generally consider the matters which are under consideration of other legislative committees. The report of the standing committees shall have persuasive value and shall be treated as considered advice given by the committee,” it further adds.
