BHUBANESWAR: Peeved at the casual attitude of the Government, opposition Congress on Thursday walked of the Assembly protesting absence of Ministers during debate on Vote on Account. Absence of ministers during post-launch session, which was slated for a discussion on the Vote of Account, irked the opposition. None of the Ministers except Finance Minister Shashi Bhusan Behera were present when the House took up the Vote on Account for discussion.
Congress member Debendra Sharma raised the issue through point of order. However, Government Chief Whip Amar Satpathy said there is no provision that all the Ministers should be present during budget discussion. Taking exception to Satpathy’s statement, Leader of Opposition Narasingh Mishra said there is no written provision for the presence of the Finance Minister during budget discussion. The Finance Minister can monitor the proceedings from his camber and come to the House to give his reply. As per Parliamentary practice, presence of all ministers is desired during discussion on budget.
“If the presence of Ministers during budget discussion is not required, there is no need of our presence,” Mishra said. Congress members present in the House walked out in protest.Directing Ministers to be present during budget discussion, Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat advised the Government Chief Whip to restore normalcy in the House by bringing back the opposition members.
The Leader of Opposition and his party members returned to the House following a request from Satpathy.The Assembly witnessed lack of quorum twice during the discussion on budget. As the House reassembled post-launch, there was no quorum for two minutes. There were only nine members. A similar situation arose at 6.37 pm when only 10 members were present.