The Congress members in the Assembly on Wednesday strongly protested the decision of Speaker Pradip Amat not to allow discussion on the admissibility of adjournment motion notices given by them for last two days and alleged that by doing so, the voice of the Opposition is being suppressed.
“This has proved the first charge brought by us in the notice given for your (Speaker’s) removal,” Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said, adding that these would be counted as black days in the history of the Assembly. Harichandan alleged that the notice given by the Congress members on Tuesday on growing pollution in the State was rejected as not a recent occurrence only five minutes before 9.30 am.
Even though only five minutes were left, a second notice on illness developed by 86 students after taking midday meal (MDM) at Sheragada was submitted. But the second notice was rejected on the ground that it was delayed, Harichandan said and added that the actual reason behind its rejection was that the incident took place in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home district Ganjam.
The Congress chief whip alleged that on Wednesday two notices were given and both rejected. The first was on Nandi Foundation which had supplied MDM to students in Ganjam district. The reason behind the rejection was that Minister of State for School and Mass Education Rabinarayan Nanda had dealt with the issue during his reply to the discussion on the demand for grants of the department on Tuesday.
The second notice was on how Odisha has fallen behind in development parameters. This was based on the report of Tata Strategic Management Forum, which pointed out that Odisha was third from the bottom among 26 States in the State, Harichandan said and added that this was rejected on the ground that it was not a recent occurrence.
The Speaker, however, maintained that the notice was not based on a specific matter based on recent occurrence. Besides, the notice on sub-standard MDM was received at 9.38 am, he said and added that the Minister had given a detailed reply on Nandi Foundation on Tuesday.