Question on quorum draws Opposition ire

The House proceedings cannot begin until the required quorum is completed. Often it happens that the House proceedings are delayed as the quorum is not complete. Even during the present Assembly session the House was delayed,at least once,by 10 minutes as members did not turn up.

“In the Parliament only 1/10th of total strength is enough for the quorum and in several states the figure is as low as 1/6th or 1/5th. We want to reduce the quorum requirement so that previous floor time could be saved,” said MLA Karan Kanwar Singh. 

As soon as Singh introduced the motion,the House erupted,with the Opposition raising slogan against the motion. “They have the session only for a limited number of days in a year. By reducing the quorum strength they are basically shrinking from their responsibility. This is also a defensive move,they basically do not want to hear about their shortcomings,” said Opposition leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

The Opposition also alleged that the government has moved this motion due to its arrogance. “After winning for third time the government is getting arrogant and does not want to work. It is not in public interest that the MLA’s stay away from the house,” said BJP MLA Ramesh Bidhuri.

The motion,however,was backed by Industries Minister Mangat Ram Singhal. “We welcome this move. Knowing that the quorum will not be complete if they walk out,BJP uses it to hold the House at ransom,” Singhal said.

There have been several instances when the Delhi Assembly was adjourned because the quorum was not complete. Although once the House proceedings begin,they continue even if the MLAs leave,until someone raises the issue of quorum.

This proposal will now be sent to the Union Government. The change can be brought about only by amending the Delhi NCT Act in the Parliament.