State Assembly’s protocol panel formed

Bhubaneswar: A protocol committee of Odisha Assembly has been formed in the lines with such a committee in Lok Sabha to review attitude of bureaucrats in the State towards elected people’s representatives.

State legislator Dr Nrusingha Sahu is chairman of the committee which is having seven members. Debashis Samantray, Bibhuti Harichandan, Prafulla Majhi, Mayadhara Jena, Bijaya Mohanty and Manohar Randhari are the members of the protocol committee.

“There are instances when protocol violation is made by government officials. When MLAs are on officials also do not cooperate. In this regard, the committee will take appropriate steps and resolve issues,” said Sahu, chairman of the committee.

Welcoming the decision Narasingha Mishra, leader of Opposition said, “The State government has issued Book Circular 47 as per which officials should respect MLAs and give importance to their recommendations. I thank Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari for accepting the demand.”

Notably, State Assembly Speaker Niranjan Pujari had directed the House to form such committee.

During the recently held budget session of the House, members cutting across party lines alleged that bureaucrats in the State were not paying due respect to elected people’s representatives.