Bhopal: The BJP led Madhya Pradesh government issued a notification to its ministers pointing out that proper structuring of replies and in-depth analysis of the content of questions could help reduce the number of assurances made by the regime.
The Government has directed its ministers to refrain from using certain terminology while drafting replies. The government has even listed examples – 34 of them – in a circular to help ministers structure their answers.
The ministers are being encouraged to stay alert, not make promises, and avoid saying, “we are inquiring into it”, “the issue will be considered”, “I’ll look into it”, “I’ll write to the centre”, “I’ll see what I can do”, “timely action will be taken”, “I’ll think about it”, “We’ll discuss the questions raised by the legislators” etc, as these are considered as assurances.
“The objective is to avoid saying anything that could be interpreted as an assurance to the Hous,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra.
The opposition has called it an attempt to weaken the Vidhan Sabha by the ruling party.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly’s Leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh has called the order against the fundamental sentiment of the House.
“They are trying to restrict democratic institutions. As a result of this, no legislator will be able to get a proper answer from treasury benches, which is unfortunate,” he added.
Responding to the allegations, Mr. Mishra said, “We are not curbing the freedom of expression. It’s surprising that those who imposed the Emergency are talking about the freedom of speech. The BJP can’t even think of that.”
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
