New Delhi, July 2 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate a two-day orientation programme for newly elected members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, in Kolkata on Friday, said an official.

The programme is being organised by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE), Lok Sabha Secretariat, in collaboration with the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, said the official from Lok Sabha Secretariat in a statement.

It seeks to familiarise newly elected Bengal legislators with various aspects of parliamentary and legislative functioning, including committee systems, financial oversight, parliamentary privileges and emerging digital initiatives in legislatures, said the statement.

The programme is expected to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practices while enhancing participants’ understanding of legislative procedures, parliamentary institutions and democratic governance, it said.

The sessions will be chaired and addressed by distinguished Presiding Officers of State Legislatures, Members of Parliament, constitutional experts and senior parliamentary practitioners from across the country.

Apart from Chief Minister Adhikari, the inaugural session will be attended by Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju; Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh; Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Legislative Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee and others.

West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose will deliver the Welcome Address, and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of West Bengal Shankar Ghosh will deliver the Vote of Thanks, said the statement.

During the two-day orientation programme, a series of technical sessions has been designed to cover key aspects of legislative work, including ‘How to be an Effective Legislator; Customs, Conventions and Etiquettes for Members’ and ‘Executive Accountability through Questions and other Procedural Devices in Legislatures’, said the statement.

The legislators will also be briefed on ‘Committee System in Indian Parliament’; ‘Legislative Process including Private Members’ Bills’; ‘Financial Business and Budgetary Process in Parliament’; ‘Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics’ and the ‘National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)’, it said.

The sessions will be chaired and addressed by distinguished Presiding Officers of State Legislatures, Members of Parliament, constitutional experts and senior parliamentary practitioners from across the country.

The Orientation Programme will conclude on Saturday with the Valedictory Address of Governor R.N. Ravi in the historic Chamber of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

The session will be addressed by Birla, Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and West Bengal Assembly Speaker.

–IANS

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