Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Opposition disrupts Assembly proceedings

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Members of the Opposition trooped to the well of the Assembly and disrupted proceedings during question hour on Tuesday after heated exchanges with LDF members over alleged discrepancies in the BPL list.

Trouble began when Minister for Food and Civil Supplies C. Divakaran was replying to a supplementary question of K. Sudhakaran on the anomalies in the BPL list drawn up by the State. Mr. Divakaran said that the anomalies in the list existed from 1977 when target rationing system was introduced in the State and a survey was being conducted to rectify the errors. Opposition members then stood up and protested against the Minister’s reply.

Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said that the government was trying to justify the irregularities in the list. Many ineligible persons, including government employees had been included in the list. Mr. Divakaran said that incongruities had crept into the list as the previous UDF government had conducted the survey in a haphazard manner. Opposition members protested against the Minister’s reply and rushed to the well of the House. LDF members too came out of their seats and registered their protest.

At 9.25 a.m., Speaker K. Radhakrishnan ruled that question hour was over and left the chair and proceedings came to a standstill. When business was resumed at 10.45 a.m., Mr. Radhakrishnan said such incidents should not be repeated.

The ruling and Opposition members should be aware of the significance of the question hour. None should prevent Ministers from replying to questions and should not insist on getting the reply they wanted.

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