Bihar assembly passes 4 Bills via voice vote as Opposition walks out

The Opposition wanted a debate on police action against legislators on March 23 this year during the Budget Session over a discussion on the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021

The Bihar legislative assembly on Tuesday passed four Bills via voice vote without any debate after the Opposition staged a walkout. The Opposition wanted a debate on police action against legislators on March 23 this year during the Budget Session over a discussion on the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021.

A view of the Bihar legislative assembly in Patna. (HT Photo)

As soon as the House assembled for the second half of the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalit Prasad Yadav demanded a debate over the police action in March. Other Opposition members also joined him and stood up. As Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha asked the members to allow the House to function as per rules and continued with the listed business, the Opposition trooped into the well, shouting slogans. They then staged a walkout.

Moving the Bihar Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Panchayati Raj minister Samrat Choudhary said the government had to come up with an ordinance to maintain the continuity in third-tier governance, as the old Act had fixed the tenure of elected representatives to five years and it could not be extended. “This calls for a new mechanism of advisory committees with the same set of people at the helm; hence the amendment,” he added.

Senior minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said it was the Nitish Kumar’s government way of respecting the elected representatives, contrary to the Opposition chorus. “All the elected representatives in the panchayati raj institutions will continue in the advisory committees till fresh elections are held,” he added.

Education minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary moved the Aryabhatta Knowledge University (Amendment) Bill, 2021, necessitated due to the government’s plan to create separate universities for engineering and medical education. “The objective behind setting up Aryabhatta Knowledge University in 2009 was to encourage studies and research in non-conventional subjects and new frontiers of knowledge. There is a plan to have 12 different subjects, which are related to Bihar’s needs and have great significance globally. In three or four subjects like nano technology, river studies, climate change, etc. things have already moved ahead, while new subjects will be added. The procedure of appointment of vice-chancellor has also been changed to ensure that experts in different fields will join the university,” he added.

The third Bill was the Bihar Health Sciences University Bill, 2021, moved by health minister Mangal Pandey. Pandey said it was needed in view of the growing needs and rapid expansion in the field of medical education and allied fields. The minister accepted the three amendments moved by the members of the treasury benches. One of them was to keep the deemed universities put of the ambit of the Bill, as they were governed by separate guidelines.

Bihar arts and culture minister Alok Ranjan moved a Bill for the proposed sports university, which will headquartered in Rajgir and encourage sporting activities and training. “Bihar has become the sixth state in the country to set up a separate sports university. It will not only provide training to aspiring sportsmen within state, but it will also provide job opportunities to them,” he added.