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Congress cries foul over Raje Govt. move

Special Correspondent

Sending persons other than Ministers to assess hailstorm damage in the State

JAIPUR: Opposition Congress members in the Rajasthan Assembly on Tuesday took exception to the State Government sending persons other than Ministers to various districts to assess the damage caused by recent hailstorm, claiming that it flouted the doctrine of collective responsibility of the Cabinet.

The matter came up during zero hour when Congress MLA Sanyam Lodha demanded an apology from the Government for "insulting the House'' by sending people such as chairpersons of committees and Parliamentary Secretaries to districts to find out the extent of damage caused to crops during the Assembly's recess from March 17 to 19.

Mr. Lodha said people who had not taken an oath of office under the Constitution and were not responsible to the Assembly could not make any promise for providing relief to the affected farmers.

"Dependence on their feedback from districts will not only be against the spirit of the Constitution but will also amount to an affront to the Assembly,'' he said. The House witnessed noisy scenes with the treasury and Opposition members arguing with each other on the definition of a Minister and the Government's power to nominate any competent person to inquire into the circumstances relating to an issue. The debate did not touch the aspects of extent of damage to crops and announcement of relief.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore said there was nothing wrong in sending persons who were equal in status to Ministers as in charge to the field to examine the ground situation.

Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria pointed out that the State Government had in the past sent even MLAs to remote places to collect certain information. Sending someone as in charge to a district did not violate any provision of the Constitution, he said. The Opposition members relented on the issue only after the Speaker, Sumitra Singh, announced that she would examine a Government order of January 21 this year amending a 2004 order on nominating Ministers as in charge of districts before announcing her ruling in the House.

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