New Delhi: Making a very surprising statement, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju on Thursday informed Parliament that the Centre yet to receive any resolution adopted for formation of Legislative Council or Vidhan Parishad in Odisha.
Minister Mr.Rijiju made this statement in Rajya Sabha while replying to a question of BJD MP Prasanna Acharya.
Mr.Acharya has asked, “Whether Odisha Legislative Assembly has adopted unanimous resolution for creation of Legislative Council and whether Central Government would move to create such council under Article 169 of the Constitution, if so, by when, and if not, the reasons therefore?”
In his reply, the Union Minister said, “As per record, no such resolution has been received by the Government.” However, he said the information is being collected from the State Government of Odisha as regards to adoption of resolution.
Mr.Rijiju further said that State Legislative Assemblies of only Assam, Rajasthan and West Bengal have adopted resolutions for creation of Legislative Councils in their respective States.
However, the fact is that the Odisha Legislative Assembly had passed a resolution to set up the Legislative Council in the State on 6 September, 2018. The resolution was passed in the absence of Opposition Congress and BJP in the last Vidhan Sabha. Total 104 members including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had voted in support of the resolution. The State Assembly has 147 legislators.
Though nearly three and half years have passed to adopt the resolution on Vidhan Parishad, surprisingly, the Union Government doesn’t have any information about it.
As per the plan, the Vidhan Parishad in Odisha will have 49 members (one-third the size of the Assembly). While 16 members are to be elected by the MLAs; the Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samitis and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) would elect a similar number of members.
Four each of the members will be elected from among electoral rolls to be prepared to comprise teachers and graduates respectively. Similarly, nine members will be nominated by the Governors.
The State Government has also planned to function as the legislative council from the old assembly building.
Like Rajya Sabha, there will be no reservation of seats based on caste, tribe or gender. While 30 years will be the minimum age limit to be elected to the Vidhan Parishad, the tenure of a member will be six years. The members would enjoy salary and perks at par with the MLAs.
So far, six States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have constituted Vidhan Parishad.