In the latest development surrounding the controversy relating to the creation of Odisha Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad), the State government has received a reply over the matter from the Central government.
Odisha Legislative Assembly Speaker Surya Narayan Patro informed on Sunday about receipt of a letter in which the Centre has asked the Odisha government to interact with its Parliamentary Affairs department. The letter is believed to be containing the detailed procedure for creation of Legislative council.
“The State government had earlier sent two letters to the Central government immediately after the latter denied receiving any resolution from the State government with respect to its demand for setting up of a Legislative Council in the State,” Patro said.
“With the first letter, all documents relating to passing of Odisha Legislative Council resolution in the State Legislative Assembly in 2018 and submission of the declaration to the Centre had been enclosed. The second letter had been shot off to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, seeking an investigation into the alleged non-receipt of the resolution by the Centre,” the Speaker said.
In response to those two letters, the Centre has now sent a reply wherein it is specifically asked its Odisha counterpart to interact with the Parliamentary Affairs department in the State.
The response letter has been forwarded to the Secretary of the Parliamentary Affairs department, Speaker Patro informed.
The Speaker also informed that this year's budget session in the Assembly will begin before March 31 but the exact date will be announced after the approval of Odisha Governor.
Speaker Patro also informed about the launching of a dedicated YouTube channel for the State Assembly called ‘Vidhan Sabha Samachar’ on Saturday.
“A monthly magazine ‘Vidhan Sabha Patrika’ and a TV channel ‘Vidhan Sabha TV’ are also set to be launched soon. The magazine and the channel will cover all the news relating to the State's apex legislative body,” he added.
Notably, the Odisha Legislative Assembly had passed the resolution for creation of a Legislative Council as per Act 169 of the Constitution of India on September 6, 2018.