BANGALORE: The mobile phones of legislators will not function inside the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council anymore. The presiding officers of both the houses have ordered officers to replace the jammers that would prevent even 3G sets from functioning.
“The present jammers could stop only 2G sets from functioning but not 3G ones. Hence, it was decided to replace the jammers,” officials of both the houses of the Legislature told Express.
Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah and Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy were forced to look into the matter after three MLAs were caught watching porn on a sophisticated phone in the Assembly. “It was only after Bopaiah and Shankaramurthy were satisfied with efficacy of the equipment, permission was granted for purchase of jammers,” an official explained.
Sources said that the two presiding officers sought opinion of top police officers in communication wing as well as the IB, which has the authorisation to jam the functioning of phones during VVIP visits. “The capacity of the proposed jammers can be increased according to the future needs,” another official added.
The selection process of the jammers for the Assembly secretariat is going on; the Council has completed it.
“Earlier, we procured the jammer from Hyderabad which costed about Rs 75,000 apiece. Now, we have got it in Bangalore and its estimated cost is Rs 25,000-30,000,” an official said.