Naveen asks party MLAs to actively participate in House debates

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to watch performance of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked his party legislators to actively participate in the House debates.

The directive came at BJD legislators meeting meeting, just few hours before commencement of winter session of Assembly, here today.

Patnaik will watch the performance of the MLAs, especially the first-time members elected to Assembly.

He asked the party legislators to maintain punctuality in attending the House.

“Anyone who needs more than two days leave will get it sanctioned from me. I am very serious about members attendance this time,” Patnaik told the members at meeting.

The purpose behind move is to encourage members for constructive criticism on the floor of the House.

The party supremo said that the BJD will use technology to monitor members attendance and effectively collect materials for participation in the House.

“People of Odisha are our masters and every minute we are in office we should utilise to serve them wholeheartedly. The mandate in Patkura election and Bijepur bypoll is again a reminder of how much faith people have in Biju Janata Dal. This should make all of us to work hard in a transparent and committed manner for the people of our state,” he said at the meeting.

He directed the Government Chief Whip to submit a report to him on members attendance in the House by 11.30 am everyday.

Besides, Patnaik asked the MLAs to submit bi-monthly activity report.

A committee comprising BJD members Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Usha Devi, Amar Prasad Satpathy and Kishore Mohanty has been constituted to suggest and frame the reporting format and contents. The panel will submit its report within 10 days.

Worth mentioning, the MPs are submitting bi-monthly activity to CM Patnaik.