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U.P. winter session: New rules bar MLAs from carrying mobile phones in House
And already, the demand to allow members to carry their mobile phones in the House is gaining momentum.
The new rules barring members from carrying a mobile phone inside the House will be in place when the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly meets for the winter session at the Vidhan Sabha Hall here on November 28.
And already, the demand to allow members to carry their mobile phones in the House is gaining momentum.
The bar on mobile phones in the House is part of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the UP Legislative Assembly-2023 that the state assembly adopted during the Monsoon session (in August 2023). It also bars display of flags or any other displayable items.
For now, the state legislative assembly has not yet made any arrangements for safe deposit of mobile phones outside the legislative assembly hall.
Nevertheless, speaker Satish Mahana asserted, “Yes, the new rulebook of the House will be enforced now, and the winter session of the House will be conducted under the provisions of the new rules. The new rules bar the members from carrying mobile phones inside the House.”
Those aware of the development said the new rules have been introduced to enforce discipline in the House. A Samajwadi Party member was found telecasting House proceedings on Facebook Live, inviting the ire of speaker Satish Mahana who asked the legislator to leave the House immediately.
A senior functionary said a member also used one of the computer tablets, which is fixed on seats of all the lawmakers, to play cards or video games and such activities may create a bad impression about the whole House. The members, mainly some of those from the opposition, display flags, banners and placards carrying slogans to lodge their protest.
Justifying the demand to allow the members to carry their mobile phones in the House, Samajwadi Party chief whip Manoj Kumar Pandey said, “We put our mobile phones in silent mode inside the House. We will request the speaker to allow the mobiles to be in silent mode. We, as the members of the House, can’t afford to disconnect from the people of our constituency.”
“If any person in our constituency needs immediate attention or admission to a hospital, we have to help the people. We will request the speaker to either allow mobile phones inside the House or provide a private secretary to attend to the mobile phone when the House is in session. Such a private secretary should be allowed to enter the House to inform the members about any urgent calls,” Pandey added.
Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ said mobile phones were not allowed inside the House earlier too.
“We will, however, request the Speaker to allow the mobile with certain conditions. This is needed as a public representative must remain accessible to the people in case of any emergency,” said Mishra.
Expressing similar sentiments, some others have already conveyed their feelings to the leaders of their respective parties.
Other rules incorporated in the new rulebook bar the members from smoking, tearing any document and talking loudly in the lobbies of the House. No member is expected to stand or sit showing his back to the speaker. The members are expected not to go to the speaker (chair) themselves. They, if necessary, will be able to send a slip to the speaker through an officer of the House.
The new rulebook has been worked out after nearly 65 years. Change has been necessitated following the use of electronic devices to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) to make proceedings of the House paperless. When the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the UP Legislative Assembly were framed in 1958, there was no television in India. It made a mark on an experimental basis only in 1959. The state legislative assembly has been telecasting its proceedings live for some years now.
