Jammu, Apr 1: MLAs from multiple parties on Wednesday raised strong objections over the absence of bureaucrats during the Legislative Assembly’s Question Hour, highlighting concerns about executive accountability and the proper functioning of the House.
NC MLA Nazi Gurezi, expressing his frustration, alleged that officers were undermining the Assembly. “Look at the gallery. The House is being taken lightly. I have served here for 22 years, and this gallery used to be full. The Chief Secretary and Commissioner Secretaries were always present. Now, it seems they consider legislators idle people,” he said, urging the Chief Minister to take strict action against absent bureaucrats.
The protest quickly gained momentum as BJP MLAs stood up in solidarity, followed by lawmakers from NC, PDP, Congress, PC, and independent members, demanding accountability from the top officers.
Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather intervened, clarifying that only the senior officers whose departments’ questions are being taken up are required to be present, explaining, “We cannot have the entire secretariat in the House due to limited space in the officers’ gallery.”
BJP’s Sham Lal Sharma pointed out that the rules clearly mandate the presence of the administrative secretary of the concerned department. He proposed deferring the business of departments whose officers fail to attend. Party colleague Pawan Gupta added, “The executive is accountable to the legislature. Their absence undermines this responsibility. Why are they not coming to the House?”
The incident underscores growing discontent among legislators over bureaucratic non-cooperation and raises questions about administrative accountability during legislative proceedings.