Mumbai, February 24 The issue of delays in official responses to letters from legislators was discussed in the Maharashtra assembly on Tuesday, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recounting that he received a reply in 2021 to a question he had asked in 2009.
Raising the issue in the House, Sudhir Mungantiwar of the ruling BJP said even the Chief Secretary does not respond to the letters written by MLAs in a timely manner.
He received a reply to one such letter after four years, the former minister said, demanding action against erring officials and a law to fix accountability in such matters.
Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar supported the demand, saying it was appropriate for a BJP leader to question his own government.
Intervening in the discussion, chief minister Fadnavis said that while Mungantiwar received a response in four years, he himself got a reply in 2021 to a question he had raised as an MLA in 2009.
He had become the chief minister and then leader of the opposition by the time the reply came, Fadnavis said, urging the Speaker to take appropriate action.
Speaker Rahul Narwekar said the legislature was going to introduce a digital platform to ensure timely response to legislators' letters and queries from officials. Responsibility would be fixed under the new system to prevent such delays, he said.
