BJP not to participate in legislature committee sittings: Parrikar

Panaji, Oct 3 (UNI) Denouncing ''discriminatory, illegal and unilateral manner'' in which the government had constituted various legislature committees of the Goa Legislative Assembly, the opposition BJP today decided to boycott the committees till the Speaker modified the orders.

''The legislature committees have been constituted without involving the opposition nor was the latter's willingness taken before doing so. This amounts to government avoiding its accontability to the state even as the Speaker has become a party to it,'' says leader of the opposition Manohar Parrikar.

He was made chairman of the Budget Committee which had a limited role while the opposition members were denied the chairmanship in all other committees in violation of the statutory provisions, rules and norms of the conduct of the proceedings of the House, an aggrieved Mr Parrikar told media persons here today.

The Speaker had violated even the established Parliamentary conventions in not selecting a member of the opposition as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee or the Public Undertakings Committee for fear of skeletons rolling out of the cupboard of the government, he said.

''This glaring violation,'' he said, had been made since Francisco Sardinha became the Speaker of the House earlier. At the same time, he regretted that the government was holding the sessions only for about 25 days in a year as against the minimum 45 days required.

''This speaks volumes of the functioning of democracy in Goa in which the House was expected to transact business through debate and discussion,'' he said.

Out of 68 members appointed to various committees, 39 belonged to the ruling Congress and the rest others. All the chairmen of various committees except in one case belonged to the ruling party, he said.

Mr Parrikar had further regretted why the government had not yet constituted the much hyped Lok Ayukta even as the fate of the bill was not yet known.

UNI