BHUBANESWAR:A protocol committee of Odisha Assembly has been constituted on Saturday on the lines of such a panel of Lok Sabha to review the behaviour and attitude of bureaucrats in the State towards elected representatives of the people.
BJD legislator Nrusingha Charan Sahu will be the chairman of the committee which has seven members. The other members are Debasis Samantray, Mayadhara Jena, Bijay Mohanty, Manohar Randhari (all BJD), Prafulla Majhi (Cong) and Bibhuti Bhusan Harichandan (BJP).
Speaker Niranjan Pujari had announced that such a committee of the Assembly will be constituted after the Budget session of the Assembly. Members cutting across partylines had alleged during the session that bureaucrats in the State are not paying due respect to the elected representatives of the people. The committee will also look into the violation of order and circular issued by the State Government on the issue.
Stating that the working of the committee is almost equal to that of the Privileges Committee which looks into such complaints, Sahu said Ethics Committee of the Assembly also looks into such matters.
Sahu hoped that the protocol committee will help to bring officers not cooperating with MLAs and not adhering to protocol to the right track. This will also expedite implementation of several programmes in the State, he said.Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra thanked the Speaker for accepting the demand for constituting the Protocol Committee.
Book Circular 47 issued by the State Government defines the conduct of officers towards MLAs when they are discharging their duties, he said and added that it also elaborates on what should be the behaviour of officers towards legislators. The circular defines how the officials should proceed on the recommendations of the MLAs while executing different Government programmes, he said.