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Following mobile phone ban, legislature party can convey key messages via House staff: U.P. Speaker
Speaker said the people from the constituencies of the members could get in touch with them on the phones of their respective legislature party offices.
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All eyes will be set on the rule barring the members from carrying mobile phones as the state legislative assembly’s winter session begins here on Tuesday.
“Members will not bring mobile phones to the house,” reads rule number 11 given on page-129 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly-2023 that was adopted on the last day of Monsoon session of the House in August.
As a section of the legislators have opposed the rule banning mobile phones in the House, the issue came up for discussion at the all-party meeting that speaker Satish Mahana convened on Monday. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and leaders of various other political parties attended the meeting.
The speaker said the members could remain in touch with the people of their constituency even during the assembly session. He said the people from the constituencies of the members could get in touch with them on the phones of their respective legislature party offices.
The legislature party can convey important messages to the members through the staff of the House, he added.
Samajwadi Party chief whip Manoj Kumar Pandey said the members should be allowed to carry their mobile phones to the House as the MLAs may have certain important messages from their constituency.
He said people sometimes depend on the MLAs to get admission to a hospital in case of emergency and the members would not be able to help the people in such cases.
Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Uma Shankar Singh said the rule banning mobile phones in the House has been unanimously adopted and the members should ensure that their mobile phones don’t cause any interference in the assembly proceedings.
