New Delhi [India], March 4 : Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said on Tuesday that he intends to run the proceedings "in a fair and impartial manner" and all the "wrong practices which had been followed during the past ten years" of AAP rule will be done away with.
He said the sessions shall be duly prorogued.
The first session of the assembly, after a new BJP government came to power in the national capital, commenced on February 24 and was adjourned sine die on March 3. The House had five sittings.
As per established practice the members took their oath on the first day - March 24.
Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the assembly session, the Speaker said that during the five sittings, the House conducted business for 18 hours and 18 minutes.
He said many members spoke on various issues.
The Speaker said that he had to send out Members of the Opposition on February 25 "for their unruly action and disturbance to the LG's Address".
"The LG Address is a solemn occasion and the LG was discharging his constitutional duties. The Rules of Procedure forbids such disturbances of the LG Address," he said.
The members were later suspended by the House for three sittings for disturbing the LGs Address.
"I was also pained by the fact that the Leader of Opposition and her party Members disturbed the proceedings when she was asked to speak on my election as the Speaker," he said.
The House elected Mohan Singh Bisht as the Deputy Speaker in the sitting held on February 27.
Another important highlight of the First Session was the laying of CAG Reports on the Table of the House.
"As you would all be aware, I had personally pursued the delay in laying of the CAG Reports by the AAP Government and we had even approached the High Court for this purpose," Gupta said.
The CAG's 'Performance Audit Report on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi' was laid on the Table of the House by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on February 25. The report was discussed in the House for two days.
The Chief Minister laid the CAG's Report on Public Health Infrastructure and Management of Health Services in the House on February 28.
The Speaker said that the PAC shall examine these reports.
"I have directed that the PAC shall submit its Report within three months. The concerned departments i.e. Excise and Health have been directed to send their respective ATNs within a period of one month," the Speaker said.
"I intend to run the Assembly in a fair and impartial manner and in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and our Rules of Procedure. We shall do away with all the wrong practices which had been followed during the past ten years. Now all the sessions shall be duly prorogued. The practice of holding sessions in part for the whole year will not be followed. Special sessions will be called only in emergent and important situations," he added.
The Speaker said that sessions of the Assembly are very important.
"There will be Question Hour in the Budget session a practice which had been almost done away by the previous government. All the members will be given equal importance irrespective of the party affiliation. However in case Rules are violated strict action will be taken. Maximum utilization of the floor time shall be my primary concern. The House shall run with co-operation, balance, goodwill and established rules," he said.
The Speaker said that Delhi Assembly building holds vast historic significance in the country's freedom struggle.
"Lieutenant Governor had also mentioned in his Address about this. We will consult experts in this matter and develop the Old Secretariat as a national monument and major tourist attraction," he said.
He said that eVidhan project to make the Assembly paperless is pending for nearly ten years.
"I intend to take immediate steps to implement it and make Delhi Assembly fully computerized," he said.