BHUBANESWAR: Speaker Surama Padhy on Friday announced formation of 35 Assembly committees, including the important Public Accounts committee (PAC) and Estimates committee (EC) for the current financial year.
While the PAC will be headed by Opposition chief whip and BJD leader Pramila Mallick, the Estimates committee will be led by senior BJP leader and former minister Jayanarayan Mishra. Mishra will also head the Privileges committee.
The PAC has 12 members, including CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam, BJD leaders Arun Sahu, Ganeswar Behera and Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, BJP leaders Sanatan Bijuli, Akash Dasnayak, Ashok Mohanty, Babu Singh, Santosh Khatua and Amar Nayak, and Arabinda Mohapatra, the suspended BJD MLA. The Rules committee will be chaired by the Speaker while actor-turned-politician Dasnayak has been appointed chairman of the Library committee. Simarani Nayak will head the Committee on Women and Child Welfare.
Several House and Special committees have also been reconstituted on the long-standing Mahanadi water dispute with neighbouring Chhattisgarh, development works at Shree Jagannath Temple, environmental pollution, power distribution challenges, railway expansion and boundary disputes with neighbouring states.