LoP Satheesan accuses Kerala FM of not giving answers to submitted questions

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 12 (PTI) Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan, on Tuesday accused state Finance Minister K N Balagopal of not giving replies to the questions submitted by opposition MLAs with regard to the financial matters during the ongoing session.

Following the Point of Order raised by Satheesan in this regard in the assembly, Speaker A N Shamseer gave a ruling in the House saying that respective ministers including the finance minister should give answers to all the questions submitted by the legislators.

The LoP informed the House that the finance minister was yet to give answers to 199 unstarred questions raised by the Opposition MLAs.

The questions were regarding the financial crisis the state is facing, he said.

Giving the ruling, the Speaker said as per the documents, out of 3,199 unstarred questions submitted by the legislators during 1-9 sessions of the 15th Kerala Assembly, the finance minister has already given answers to 2,943 questions. But, 256 questions are still left to be answered, he pointed out.

"Similarly it is also seen that out of the 199 unstarred questions submitted in the current session of the House, not a single answer has been given," Shamseer said.

Seconding the LoP, he said that there have been frequent rulings from the Chair against the delay in submitting answers to the Assembly questions.

Twelve ministers have already given answers to all the questions related to their respective departments, he said.

"I hope all the ministers, including the finance minister, will adopt this model," he said.

The Speaker also ruled that immediate steps should be taken to table the fidelity certificate, which was to be submitted along with the budget, in the current session itself. PTI LGK SDP KH