The Kerala Legislative Assembly building is seen reflected in a pool of rain water on Thursday morning. The Assembly session is set to begin on Friday. | Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha

Kerala Assembly session to begin on October 4

Seven key bills to be tabled during the session

by · The Hindu

The twelfth session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly will get under way on Friday (October 4).

Seven bills will be tabled during the nine-day session that will be “exclusively for legislation,” according to Speaker A.N. Shamseer.

On the opening day, the House will pay homage to the victims of the recent landslides that ravaged parts of Wayanad and Kozhikode before adjourning for the day.

Of the remaining eight days, six days have been earmarked for government business and two days for private members’ business. The session will conclude on October 18.

The bills that will be taken up for consideration include the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Kerala Bovine Breeding Bill, 2023; the Kerala Public Service Commission (Additional Functions as respects certain Corporations and Companies) Amendment Bill, 2024; the Kerala General Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2024; Welfare of Non-Resident Keralites (Amendment) Bill, 2024; and the Payment of Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Additionally, the Assembly will also consider a bill aimed at replacing the Kerala Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, promulgated to amend the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and the Kerala Finance Acts of 2020 and 2008, Mr. Shamseer said at a press conference here on Thursday.

To finalise schedule

The Business Advisory Committee will convene on Friday to finalise the schedule for the consideration of these bills.

The Speaker also dismissed the accusation levelled by Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan of arbitrarily changing ‘starred’ questions for the Assembly session into ‘unstarred’ ones.

Opposition MLAs, said Mr. Satheesan, posed several questions pertaining to the controversy surrounding the Thrissur Pooram disruption and Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, hoping to receive direct oral responses from the Chief Minister.

Denying the charge, Mr. Shamseer said the Speaker’s office has not deliberately taken any such decision, but only took into account time constraints while finalising the ‘starred’ questions.

Published - October 03, 2024 07:52 pm IST