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| Nitish Kumar on his way to the Assembly on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar |
Patna, March 13: The Opposition as well as the MLAs of the ruling alliance today alleged that ministers’ inadequate information on any subject has led to piling up of questions in the House.
Many pointed fingers at the ministers saying their department officials feed them with facts and are rarely aware of the ground realities.
“Is this the answer given by a private party or the government?” asked an enraged Leader of the Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui today, who was fuming after hearing science and technology minister Gautam Singh’s reply to BJP MLA Munni Devi’s question related to delay in construction of a polytechnic institute in her constituency.
Gautam said there were problems with transfer of government land and that the MLA should get in touch with land revenue minister Ramai Ram. “I do not know Ramai Ram. It concerns your department and you have to ensure that the institute is built,” retorted an angry Munni Devi. To this, Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhary directed the minister to look into the matter.
“There appears to be a weird arrogance among ministers of Nitish Kumar. Most of them come with half-baked replies and refuse to do their homework. They just utter the words given by their officials without even looking into the facts,” Siddiqui told The Telegraph, stressing that the approach to questions inside the House has been extremely casual. He added that the number of questions in the Assembly increases as most queries are deferred because of inadequate information.
The accusation of ministers coming unprepared was not only levelled by the Opposition but also JD(U) MLA Narendra Kumar Singh. He got enraged on social welfare minister Parveen Amanullah for people under the BPL category, not getting benefits under Kabir Antesthi Yojana in his constituency.
The minister said the MLA had not provided the list of persons who did not get the benefits. To this the MLA retorted: “It’s not my job to find out the details of persons who did not get the benefit. It’s the government’s job.”
“Can you imagine, urban development and housing minister Prem Kumar replied to a query on the lack of urinals in the capital but could not give the exact figure of public urinals. When a BJP MLA asked industry minister Renu Devi if the government intended to close down illegal plastic factories in Patna City, the minister asked the MLA to provide a list of illegal industries in Patna City,” said another BJP MLA, adding if the ministers expected the MLAs to work like policemen.
Ministers depending on officials of his department for replying to queries was exposed when a BJP MLA gave documents to health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey, which contradicted his reply inside the Assembly, the MLA added. Many believed that the arrogance of the Treasury Bench was because of the feeble strength of the Opposition. “As an MLA of the NDA there is a restriction on us. We cannot go against the ministers or the government beyond a point,” conceded a BJP MLA.