Legislative council: Odisha may move resolution in next assembly session

Bhubaneswar: A day after a panel recommended formation of a Legislative Council in Odisha, one of its members today said the state government was planning to move a resolution in the assembly in this regard.

The resolution could be moved in the coming monsoon session of the assembly, said Manohar Randhari, ruling BJD leader and one of the five members of the committee.

The dates of the monsoon session are yet to be announced.

The committee was set up in 2015 to study functioning of Legislative Councils in other states.

Its members visited several states and recommended formation of a Legislative Council in Odisha on line of Telangana, he said.

It has recommended that there should be a maximum of 49 members in the council, of which the governor would nominate nine eminent personalities from different fields.

The panel, led by Transport Minister Nrushingha Charan Sahu, yesterday submitted its 7-page report to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The committee has recommended that the salary and perks of the Legislative Council members should be at par with the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).

Like the MLAs, the Legislative Council members too should be entitled to Local Area Development (LAD) funds and they should be given the opportunity to become ministers, it said.