BHUBANESWAR: The panel constituted by the state government to examine the procedure of formation and style of functioning of
Vidhan Parishad in Odisha has submitted its report to chief minister
Naveen Patnaik.
The committee led by commerce and transport minister
Nrusingha Sahu submitted its report after visiting Bihar and Telangana. In 2015, the committee had visited Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Sahu along with other members of the committee including Binjharpur MLA
Pramilla Mallik and Nabarangpur MLA
Manohar Randhari and state parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Arukh presented the report to the chief minister.
Though details of the report are kept under the wrap, sources said the committee in its seven-page report has recommended that the size of the legislative council should be one-third of the size of the state assembly. As the assembly has 147 members, Sahu said the legislative council to have 49 members.
The members of legislative councils would enjoy salary, daily allowance, travel allowance and other allowances at par with the salary of the members of legislative assemblies.
As the MLAs in Odisha are entitled to monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh, the upper house will have additional burden of Rs 49 lakh in terms of salary of the members only.
There will be various committees in the legislative council in line with the state assembly.
Based on the report of the commission, the state government is likely to move a resolution in the forthcoming monsoon session of the state assembly to pave way for formation of the Vidhan Parishad in Odisha.
