BHUBANESWAR: As the Odisha Government has opened up almost all sectors from August 1 to revive economic activities, the Opposition BJP and Congress have demanded convening of assembly session to discuss the Covid-19 situation and other problems faced by the people.
The Government is yet to initiate any step to convene Assembly session despite several reminders, the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra said. The rosy picture given by Government about the Covid-19 situation in the State is far from reality, he said and added that the ground reality can be known only through a discussion in the assembly.
Government is suppressing many things about Covid hospitals, Covid Care Homes and facilities available for general patients in the hospitals, he said. Mishra said he had suggested during Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s meeting with MLAs through video conference on July 29 that at least a house committee with members from all political parties can be constituted, but there was no response.
He said in the video conference meeting only a limited number of MLAs got a chance to speak and a majority of them failed to give their opinion. But there was no mention of an assembly session by the Chief Minister, he said.
Some of the initiatives of the government including Plasma donation is praiseworthy, but on the whole the performance is not up to expectations, he said and added that people’s representatives should be taken into confidence in the fight against Covid-19. He, however, said that government will have to convene a session by September 30 which is a constitutional requirement. The assembly had last met on March 30 and it should again meet within six months by September 30.