Fee Arrears Issue Not Taken Up

The special evening session of the state Assembly on Tuesday was convened to discuss the fee reimbursement issue, but the session was adjourned without discussing the agenda due to protests by TRS MLAs.

The session started at 5pm and was adjourned at 5:10pm after members belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) surrounded the Speaker's podium, and resorted to slogan-shouting. They also held placards calling for a resolution to press the Centre to introduce a Telangana bill in the budget session of the Parliament.

The TRS members' protest went ahead despite Deputy Speaker Nadendla Manohar appealing to them to return to their seats and raise the issue later. He reminded the protesting MLAs that the session was called to discuss the fee reimbursement arrears issue, and requested them to rake up the bill demand later. However, the TRS members remained unrelenting, forcing the Deputy Speaker to announce an adjournment for 15 minutes.

When the House reconvened at 5:45pm, there was no change in the stance of the TRS members. The Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu tried to placate the protesters and told them that the session was called after all the Floor leaders had agreed to discuss the fee arrears issue during a Business Advisory Committee meeting. He added that the government wants to discuss and solve the fee arrears issue.

Babu lamented that the adamant attitude of the TRS members was depriving the House of an opportunity to solve the issue at hand. However, the TRS members remained unmoved by his words, forcing the Deputy Speaker to announce another adjournment of 15 minutes at 5:52pm.

The House reconvened at 6:22pm, but this time too, the TRS members refused to allow the topic on the agenda to be taken up.

This prompted Minister For Social Welfare Pithani Satyanarayana to say that the government is keen on seeking opinion of the opposition parties on the fee arrears issue. The TRS MLAs continued to shout slogans, forcing Congress MLAs to counter their slogans.

Amidst all the din, Manohar adjourned the House till Wednesday.


Courtesy: INN