- Wed, 8 Sep, 2010, 11:52 am -

Ranchi: The deteriorating water & power situation in the State led to heated exchanges inside the Jharkhand Assembly. The entire opposition disrupted the proceedings during the question hour. They were demanding plausible explanation from the Energy Minister and raised slogans of give water & Power or leave the ‘power’.

The sloganeering continued for nearly 15 minutes and after repeated request of the Speaker the members cooled down and took their seats. Earlier the entire opposition staged a demonstration on the same issue and carried banners, posters & placards displaying their demands.
 

Leaders of Opposition party protest against the Elelctricity crisis infront of Jharkhand Assembly during ongoing session of Jharkhand Assembly in Ranchi, Jharkhand on Wednesday. Photo By - Mahadeo Sen

During the question hour after the disruption, Pradeep Yadav and Raghubar Das clashed over the issue of City Bus Service. Congress MLA Sawna Lakra wanted to know the status of the proposed Bus Service, scheduled to start from the 26th of January, Raghubar Das stated that a Consultancy Firm was being appointed at a cost of Rs.50 Lakhs for smooth operation, to which Pradeep Yadav quipped that the State has witnessed the fate of such consultancy firms right from the Meinhardt time and shelling out Rs.50 Lakhs for just drawing out a city route plan was ridiculous and most unfortunate.

Raghubar Das became livid at this remark and retorted back ‘where you sleeping for the past three years when the Meinhardt issue cropped up?’ Pradeep Yadav reminded the Minister that even at that time he was the first person to oppose it in the Cabinet meeting. He added that the government fund was being grossly misused and a conspiracy hatched to siphon off funds outside the State. Heated exchanges continued for a while before the Minister replied to Sawna Lakra’s question.

The issue of declaring their assets, of IAS & IPS officers of the State was raised during the question hour by Madhav Lal Singh. Hemlal Murmu said that the State was empowered only to issue a show cause notice and the action on the State’s recommendation was Centre’s prerogative. The minister also remarked that nearly 24 officers from the Central Civil Services had not filed their affidavits for three years in a row. The State government has taken a serious note of this and referred to the Centre for appropriate action.