Jammu, April 1 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Legislators, cutting across party lines on Wednesday, protested the absence of senior bureaucrats in the Legislative Assembly during the Question Hour as BJP MLAs called for deferring business of departments whose administrative secretaries were absent from the House.

During the Question Hour in J&K Assembly on Wednesday, MLAs belonging to different political parties expressed serious concern over the absence of senior bureaucrats in the Legislative Assembly.

Ruling National Conference (NC) MLA, Nazi Ahmad Gurezi alleged that bureaucrats were taking the House lightly. Pointing to the officers’ gallery, the Legislator said, “You look towards the gallery. This House is being taken lightly. I have been a member of this House for 22 years. This gallery used to be packed. The Chief Secretary used to be present during Question Hour. Commissioner Secretaries used to remain present. They think idle people (Legislators) are sitting here.”

He urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take action against the bureaucrats.

“They should come to the House. The CM should take action against these people. Why are they not coming to the House? Do they think they are above the CM and the House? What do they think of themselves? They are government servants; we are public representatives,” he said.

He was supported by all BJP legislators, who stood up in protest against the absence of bureaucrats. Soon, MLAs from NC, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Congress, Peoples Conference (PC) and independents also stood up in protest.

Intervening in the matter, Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather said that the topmost officers of the department whose questions are to be taken up should remain present in the House.

“We cannot ask the entire secretariat to sit in the House. There is not much space in the officers’ gallery,” he explained.

Raising the issue, BJP’s Sham Lal Sharma said that the rulebook mandates the presence of the concerned administrative secretary of the department whose questions are to be taken up.

Sharma suggested that the business of any department whose officers are absent from the gallery should be deferred.

Another BJP MLA, Pawan Gupta also questioned the absence of bureaucrats in the House. “The Executive is responsible to the Legislature. Why are they not coming to the House? Why are they absent?” he asked.

–IANS

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