Opposition stages walkout from Upper House in Bihar

Patna, Mar 12 (UNI) Dissatisfied with the reply of Bihar government on a special debate over slackness in utilising the Local Area Development Fund (LADF) of MLAs and MLCs, the Opposition today staged a noisy walkout from the legislative council during the pre-lunch session.

Replying on the debate, rural engineering organisation minister Narendra Yadav said the government had decided to give the rights to MLAs and MLCs for selection of agencies for the works.

Earlier, the district magistrates had the rights to select agencies for carrying out the development works from the LADF of MLAs and MLCs.

The government allocates Rs 318 crore every year for the LADF of MLAs and MLCs, Mr Yadav said. He said now steps would be taken to ensure that these funds do not lapse.

Dissatisfied with the replies, CPI's Kedar Pandey, CPI(M)'s Vasudev Singh, Congress and LJP members Mahachandra Prasad Singh and Sanjay Singh walked out of the house.

UNI