SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 30: The Legislative Assembly today concluded its proceedings with members reflecting on the conduct of the session, appreciating the participation of the House and reiterating their commitment to raise the concerns and aspirations of the people.
On the concluding day, Speaker Legislative Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather, invited the members to share their observations on the proceedings.
The Speaker expressed satisfaction over the overall conduct of the House and appreciated the active participation of members in raising issues of public importance and constituency-specific concerns.
Rather said that he had made it clear from the very first day on assuming the Chair that he does not represent any particular political party and is committed to discharge his responsibilities impartially and in the larger interest of the House.
He acknowledged the enthusiasm of members to raise issues concerning their constituencies and the people they represent, and complimented them for making maximum use of the time available to them. He, however, appealed to the members to understand the limitations imposed by the duration of the session.
The Speaker said that longer sessions would provide greater opportunity to members to raise constituency-specific issues, seek answers from the government and deliberate upon matters of public importance, besides easing the pressure on the Chair. He said that the members had been elected with great expectations from the people and appreciated their efforts to bring public concerns before the House rather than focusing on personal matters.
Rather reiterated that it was the responsibility of the Chair to provide every member a fair and reasonable opportunity to speak and participate in the proceedings of the House.
The Speaker also expressed appreciation for the contribution of all those who had worked for the smooth and successful conduct of the Session. He particularly acknowledged the efforts of the Assembly Secretariat staff and said that their concerns and demands were under consideration.
Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary in his reflections said that the session was relatively short and that both the Treasury Benches and the Opposition had made efforts to address the issues concerning the people. He said that the Assembly was an important institution and a legacy that all members were collectively responsible for strengthening. He reiterated the government’s commitment to work for betterment of the people and fulfilling the commitments made to them.
CPI(M) leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigam said that the challenging circumstances prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir placed greater responsibilities on all elected representatives. He thanked the media for its role in covering the proceedings and stressed the importance of objective and responsible reporting.
MLA Pawan Kumar Gupta said that the short duration of the session had limited the opportunity for members to discuss various issues confronting the people. He called for longer sessions to provide adequate time to all MLAs to raise constituency-specific matters and to enable more questions to be taken up during Question Hour.
MLA Iftikhar Ahmed expressed appreciation for the Assembly Secretariat for its efforts in ensuring the smooth conduct of the proceedings and praised the Speaker for his conduct and wisdom in handling the House. He said that the primary objective of the Assembly was to provide a platform for raising and addressing the issues of the people.
MLA Syed Aga Muntazir Mehdi also appreciated the Speaker for the manner in which he conducted the proceedings and thanked the Assembly Secretariat and its staff for their efforts in facilitating the…
