Deputy Speaker warns JK govt to take House ‘seriously’

Jammu: A lack of quorum in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly forced Deputy Speaker Nazir Ahmad Gurezi to adjourned the House briefly after the end of the Question Hour today and warn the state government to take the proceedings “seriously”.

Shortly after the Question Hour concluded, Gurezi, who was in the chair, noticed that treasury and opposition benches were largely empty, forcing him to suspend the proceedings for 10 minutes.

The proceedings were suspended after Congress legislator Vikar Rasool had started speaking on the discussion on demands for grants for industries and commerce department.

When the House reassembled after 10 minutes, the deputy speaker asked the government to “take the House seriously”.
Earlier today, Congress legislator G M Saroori staged a walkout from the House over “unsatisfactory reply” to his supplementary question by Tribal Affairs Minister Choudhary Zulfikar Ali.

“People of my constituency (Inderwal in Kishtwar district) are denied basic facilities like roads, water and electricity,” he said before walking out of the House.

Ali had responded to the questions related to the tribal population and the steps taken by the state government for the development of the scheduled tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The gujjar and bakerwal constitute about 90 per cent of the total Schedule Tribe population of the state and an advisory board is functional for their development.

The board is exclusively for Gujjars and Bakerwal communities.

“Regarding nomination of members from other tribes, government may take some alternate steps to give representation to the members of these tribes. One such measure could be formulation of a Tribal Council in the state,” the minister said in his reply to the questions.

PTI