అంత ఆశ్చర్య పడకండేం...నేటి ’టైమ్స్ ఆఫ్ ఇండియా 9 వ పేజీలోని ఓ వార్త సభ్య సమాజం ఆర్ధిక వ్యవస్త సిగ్గుపడేలా చేస్తుంది. మనం ఏరి కోరి ఎన్నుకునే ప్రజా నాయకుల కి - అసలు పనేంటి...పాటేంటి...గీతమొదిలేసి జీతమెంత ...? లాటి వివేకవంతమైన ప్రశ్నలే ఓ క్రియాశీల వ్యక్తి ఐన దేబషీస్ భట్టాచార్య కి కలగడం, ఆ వెంటనే 'ఆర్టీఐ' పుణ్యమా అని.... ఎలక్షన్ కమీషన్ కు మొరపెడితే అది ఎలా ప్రయాణించి చివరికి ఎక్కడెక్కడికో తిరిగి...చివరికి.... అసలు ఎమ్పీ , ఎమ్మెల్యే లకు "న కర్తవ్యం-న బాధ్యత" అని తేల్చి చెప్పారుట ... ప్రభుత్వం వారు... అదేదో "న భయం-న లజ్జ" అనేది స్పురించేట్టు. పూర్తి సమాధానపు ’బంతి’ ఇంకా న్యాయ మంత్రిత్వ శాఖ 'కోర్టు' లో ఉందట. సదరు వార్త టెక్స్ట్ ఇక్కడ పేస్ట్ చేస్తున్నాను.
NEW DELHI: What are the duties and responsibilities of members of Parliament and state legislative assemblies? Actually nothing!
A series of RTI queries filed with the central government and state assemblies show that there are no duties and responsibilities for elected representatives of the people. The only exception may be Sikkim, where the assembly has rules of procedure "specifying the duties (and) responsibilities of MLAs towards the august House being public representatives" and it would be their "prime duty to maintain communal harmony and peace among the people".
On February 2, 2009, an RTI application was filed by activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya with the Election Commission seeking details of duties, responsibilities and accountability of MPs and MLAs. The commission replied that it was "not concerned with information sought" and it had no such information. On an appeal, the commission's appellate authority ruled that the query should have been transferred to the ministry of parliamentary affairs and ministry of law and justice.
Lok Sabha secretariat said on June 3, 2009 that there was "no provision either in the Constitution or the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha defining duties and responsibilities of members of Parliament or through which the accountability can be fixed on non-performing MPs".
The Lok Sabha secretariat quoted Article 99 of the Constitution, to say that the members have to "make and subscribe before the President or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule". The person appointed by the President is the protem speaker, who takes oath from the President in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Protem speaker also signs the roll of members in the House.
The Bihar assembly also believes that "there is no provision/rule through which the duties, responsibilities and accountabilities of MLAs are fixed". And there was "no provision in the law through which accountability can be fixed" on non-performing MLAs, it said. West Bengal assembly's public information officer said they too didn't have any specific rules "through which the responsibility and accountability can be fixed".
The Haryana Vidhan Sabha secretariat said while there were no specific acts defining the duties of MLAs, the "members are bound to bear the true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as law established, that he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India as per provisions of the Constitution of India".
The Assam assembly does not have specific rules. It said, "As per parliamentary practice and convention, the members are bound to maintain the highest tradition in parliamentary life and they are responsible to observe good conduct both inside and outside the House as well."
The story isn't much different in the responses from most other state assemblies. Kerala assembly said "no specific statute has so far been enacted by the Kerala legislative assembly".
However, in Sikkim, elected representatives have rules of procedure and conduct of business provisions "specifying the duties and responsibilities of MLAs towards the august House being public representatives", the RTI reply said. Sikkim provision says, "It will be their prime duty to maintain communal harmony and peace among the people of their respective constituencies."
The President's secretariat, after remaining silent for almost six months, referred the RTI application to the ministries of law and justice and parliamentary affairs recently. On February 18, the ministry of law and justice referred the matter to parliamentary affairs, which is yet to reply to the RTI.
కొద్దిగా ఆలోచిస్తే - అన్నాహజారే పోరాటక్రమం లో అసలు ముందు ఈ గొళ్ళెం సంగతి కీలకంగా కనిపించడంలా?
