MLAs demand residential accommodation in Constituencies
Jammu, Feb 10: Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly,Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Monday discussed issues raised by different members of the Legislative Assembly ahead of first budget session of Omar Abdullah headed government in a meeting of the House Committee held here.
A nearly month-long budget session is likely to begin on March 3, 2025.
Legislators, Sunil Kumar Sharma, (Leader of Opposition); Ghulam Ahmad Mir; Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurezi); Surjeet Singh Slathia; Ali Mohammad Dar; Javid Hassan Baig; Ch Mohammad Akram and Waheed Ur Rehman Para were present as members of the Committee.
The Committee discussed accommodation and other related issues being faced by the MLAs during their stay in the twin capitals of J&K.
During a threadbare discussions, the Legislators gave their suggestions regarding provisioning of suitable accommodation to them at Jammu and Srinagar cities.
They also suggested that a process should be initiated to identify the government quarters for allotment to the MLAs till new arrangements are made so that they won’t face any inconvenience during public meetings and legislative sessions.
“We have suggested constituency-based allocation. As per the suggestion, a residential quarter should be allotted to a particular constituency rather than an individual MLA,” National Conference MLA Javaid Hassan Baig and member of the panel, said.
He said the proposal would rationalize the allocation of residential quarters for MLAs.
“The MLAs are running from pillar to post to get residential quarters. If this proposal is implemented, they would be free from the burden of finding accommodation,” he said.
He said they have also pushed for building of residential colonies, where a similar arrangement of allocation should be made. “There was a unanimous view that MLAs would themselves decide about their entitlements. The House will take a call on our entitlements,” he said.
The Speaker assured them that all their genuine suggestions including accommodation issues would be taken up with the government for early resolution. He showed his optimism that these issues would find resolution in a time-bound manner.
Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Manoj Kumar Pandit and other senior officers were present in the meeting.
