Speaker forms panel on motions of public importance

Published On: August 17, 2016 01:10 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

Speaker Onsari Gharti during the meeting with chairmen of different House committees and the chief whips of different political parties at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu on Tuesday.(Dipesh Shrestha/Republica)

KATHMANDU, Aug 17: Speaker Onsari Gharti has formed a nine-member committee to study the motions of public importance registered at Parliament Secretariat and decide whether to forward them for discussion in the House.

In absence of such a committee, the motions important to public were being dumped without even studying them.

Reflecting the poor status of deliberations on such motions, only two proposals have been registered in the parliament during the ongoing House session.

Over 70 motions on matters of urgent public importance were registered at the Parliament Secretariat in the past three years, but only six of them came up for discussion at the parliamentary meetings.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have been pressing the Speaker include such proposals for discussion at the House meetings.

Gagan Thapa and other lawmakers have registered two proposals at the Parliament Secretariat urging the Speaker to include them for deliberations in the ongoing House session.

The first proposal demands discussion on capital gains tax tied to Ncell's acquisition by another company.

The second proposal demands holding deliberations on the demands of Dr Govinda KC, who has mounted several rounds of fast-onto-death demanding reforms in the medical sector and impeachment of Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) chief.

She had held consultations with the chief whips of major political parties before reaching the decision to form such committee on Tuesday.

Min Bahadur BK and Ram Krishna Yadav from Nepali Congress (NC), Rabindra Adhikari and Gokul Gharti from CPN-UML, Sita Nepali from CPN (Maoist Center) Kunti Kumari Shahi from Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, Dil Bahadur Nepali from Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, Gita Rana Chhetri from Madhesi People's Right Forum Democratic and Rajya Laxmi Shrestha from Rastriya Prajatantra Party have been appointed as the member on the committee.

According to parliamentary regulations, responsible minister should answer to Parliament about such proposals.