Madhesh Province Assembly Meeting Stalled for Over Two Months

Janakpurdham. The Madhesh Province Assembly meeting has not been held for two and a half months. Speaker Ram Ashish Yadav said that the provincial assembly meeting has been stalled for a long time due to the government's lack of interest. Speaker Yadav said that although he met Chief Minister Krishna Yadav several times to resume the provincial assembly meeting, a decision to convene the meeting has not yet been made by the Council of Ministers. Speaker Yadav said, 'When I met the Chief Minister, we discussed resuming the session. However, no such decision has come from the Council of Ministers yet. The Chief Minister is currently focused on the party's general convention. I hope that the session will resume once that is completed,' he told Ratopati. According to him, the provincial assembly meeting can be conducted regularly once a letter regarding the convening of the meeting arrives from the Office of the Province Chief. 'We are ready to resume the session. A decision needs to come, and the session will resume,' said Speaker Yadav. He informed that although the provincial assembly meeting has not been held, the government has sent bills for the amendment of some laws and the creation of new laws. The Province Assembly has stated that even though the provincial assembly meeting has not been held for more than two months, approximately 1 crore 40 lakh rupees have been spent on the salaries and allowances of the provincial assembly members alone. The Madhesh Provincial Assembly has 107 members. Provincial Assembly Spokesperson Surendra Mahato said that including the remuneration of the provincial assembly members, fuel, communication, and other facilities, the monthly expenditure is approximately 70 lakh rupees. 'The provincial assembly meeting has not been held. However, the meetings of the parliamentary committees are ongoing. When the session will start is in the hands of the government. It has been a long time, I heard it will resume soon,' he said. Provincial Assembly Members Also Dissatisfied with the Government Provincial assembly members have also started expressing dissatisfaction with the government's working style due to the long-standing halt in the provincial assembly meeting. They said that it is problematic not to be able to raise public issues and livelihood concerns in the session. Speaking to Ratopati a few days ago, former Chief Minister and Janata Samajwadi Party leader Jitendra Prasad Sonal had accused the government's negligence of causing the provincial assembly meeting to be stalled. 'Currently, due to the government, public issues, problems, and concerns are being overlooked across the province. Therefore, the government must immediately resume the session and focus on resolving those issues,' he said. While the provincial assembly in other provinces is operating regularly amidst government formation and political activities, the provincial assembly meeting in Madhesh Province has not been able to resume even though there has been no change in government. It has been two and a half months since the three-party alliance government of Congress, UML, and Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre) in Madhesh was agreed to continue, but it is still uncertain when the provincial assembly meeting will resume. The last meeting of the provincial assembly was held on Asar 31 to pass the budget. No meeting has been held since then. With only about 6-7 months remaining in the term of the provincial assembly members, they said that the work that needs to be done by the provincial assembly should be completed through regular meetings. Provincial assembly members said that it is not appropriate to keep the session inactive for a long time.