BENGALURU: After decades, one can freely access mobile phones without the intrusive jammers inside and around the legislature from Monday.
Speaker UT Khader, who oversaw the arrangements for the budget session starting from Monday, told TNIE that jammers which used to be activated when the Assembly and Council were in session for decades have been done away with and there is no problem in making or receiving calls now.
Also, 5G wifi service has been activated inside Vidhana Soudha and legislators can use their tablets and handheld devices on the premises. He said a technical team has completed the project. Debugging of the 5G service has been completed and it shows the signal strength to be excellent. These are part of the initiatives to increase the participation of members in the sessions and to involve all in the decision-making process. Asked if gadgets can be misused, he said, “We trust and believe all our legislators are responsible.”
Khader said he would like to start the sessions early, by 8.55 or 9 am. “Legislators get ready by about 7.30-7.45 am and then they meet their constituents or attend some functions or meet government officials with regards to work of their constituents. But they end up late for the sessions. When the session starts early, they will come in and participate,” he added.
On his concerns over newcomers to the House, Khader said, “This is now the fourth session since this government has been formed and they are not really newcomers. We had arranged training for them.”
He said the secretariat has contacted well-known eateries around Bengaluru to serve breakfast to legislators. This will prevent them from going in search of restaurants in the morning, he added. Asked if the session on Monday will begin early, he said it is the prerogative of the governor. “After that, we will try to start the sessions early,” he added.
Kiran Gajanur, assistant professor of Public Administration at Central University of Karnataka said, “The Lok Sabha elections are approaching and most of the people’s representatives are engaged in election preparations. This might impact the participation at the sessions. But the Speaker and his office are making sincere efforts to bring people’s representatives into the House. With the 5G network in the Assembly, people’s representatives can make use of the technology to be engaged with constituency work.”