Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 2: The state government Friday initiated the process for constitution of a state legislative council (Vidhan Parishad).
The first meeting in this regard was held by parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh in the presence of the secretaries of parliamentary affairs department and the Assembly.
“Article 179 of the Constitution allows a state to form a Legislative Council. The state government has decided to constitute a Legislative Council following the demands raised by intellectuals from various fields of the society,” Arukh said after the meeting.
“We have decided to form a five-member committee, which will tour two to three major states having Legislative Councils, to study their procedure and functioning style,” he said. The parliamentary affairs and Assembly secretaries will co-ordinate with the committee. “The committee will be formed in two or three days and is likely to submit its report by the end of January,” he said.
The report after being approved by the state cabinet, would be tabled in the Assembly and sent to the Union government for approval.
Arukh said the proposed Vidhan Parishad in Orissa will have 49 members, which is one third of the total members of the Legislative Assembly. One-third of these members would be elected by the municipal corporations, municipalities and zilla parishads, one-third by the members of the Legislative Assembly, and one-twelfth from education sector, while one-sixth of the members would be nominated by the Governor from the field of literature, science, art, cooperation and social service.
Whether or not the state government will seek the consent of opposition and other political parties “will be decided after the committee submits the report”, he said.
“With the formation of the Legislative Council, the state government will be able to raise more public issues on the floor of the House,” said Arukh.
